Ordered to Marry
by TBloves2read
Summary: AU Samcedes Mercedes and Sam appear to be total opposites until they are arrested. Because of their moms, they are court ordered to marry or spend 30 days in jail. Will the two realize they have more in common than they think? Will the couple that goes to jail together end up together forever for better or worse?
1. Chapter 1

AU Samcedes Romance Based on JT Schultz's _Tickled Pink_. While reading this story, I could see Sam and Mercedes' characters as the protagonists, so I rewrote the story with them in mind. I posted the first two chapters on my Tumblr account and received a lot of love. So thanks for all those readers who liked it. I am dedicating the posting of this story on FF to sunichii!

Background Information:

Mercedes Jones age 30 is the singer daughter of Dr. Malachi Jones a dentist and Judge Melanie Marshall Jones. Melanie is a distant relative of Thurgood Marshall, and every person in the Marshall family goes into law. Mercedes went to Harvard as a pre law student and later to Middleton Law School in Philadelphia. She graduated with her degree but has failed to take the Bar Exam choosing instead to become a professional singer much to her mother's dismay.

Samuel "Sam" Evans age 32 interior designer/comic book author son of architect Dwight Evans and Assistant District Attorney Mary Evans. When Sam was young, his father lost his job which prompted his mom to go back to school and get her law degree. Mary tried to encourage Sam to go in to a stable career like law so he wouldn't have to experience the loss of his home and standing in their community like they had when Dwight lost his job. Sam totally ignored his mom and combined his love of art with his love of architecture and went into design and works for his father's architecture firm as head designer as well as having his own profitable side business of publishing his own comic books. Mary was disappointed in her son, and is more disappointed in his playboy ways and his spending time at Comic Cons not seeming to want to settle down and bring honor and dignity back to the Evans' name as well as being a poor role model for his younger siblings Stacie and Stevie.

Chapter One

Mercedes couldn't believe that the maniac driving the Maybach was speeding passed her house yet again through a family neighborhood filled with young children and their pets.

She didn't know what possessed her to move her career from LA to Lima permanently following her return home to be with her best friend Tina who had survived stage 4 breast cancer, but she knew at the time of her friend's diagnosis that her husband Mike also a good friend was near death himself with worry, and they needed her and she needed to be near them as well. She was the one that had introduced her best friend to her classmate Mike when she met him in her Criminal Law 100 class taught by the sadistic Professor Annalise Keating. The two had bonded and were a part of her select group chosen to work as interns on cases with her, and that experience more than anything else convinced Mercedes that law was not the career for her.

Now she was in Lima a place she swore never to return to because of her controlling mother. The woman made her watch _The Cosby Show_ reruns so that she would desire to be like Clair Huxtable. Mercedes enjoyed the show, but the episodes that she liked best were the ones in which the kids lip-synch to songs. She loved music and performing. Her mother told her this was a nice hobby but wasn't her destiny. According to her mother, Mercedes' destiny was to become the first African-American female Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Mercedes followed her mother's plans for her life until she became Professor Keating's intern. Her whole view of the law left her with a rotten taste in her mouth, and she wanted to do what she was passionate about and that was her singing.

Her singing career which she started later in life first consisted of doing background vocals and writing songs for famous artists at Sony. However, her big break came when Kanye came into the studio and was listening to a song she had written for Beyonce, and the rest was history. He convinced the label to sign her as an artist, and although she wasn't a superstar, she had toured with other artists and was slowly making a name for herself in the industry. She had singles break into the top ten with her debut album and was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best New Artist. Even though she hadn't won, her song collaboration with Pharrell "Happy Part Two" had become a top grossing hit earning Mercedes a lot of money and opportunity to have a successful sophomore album. Mercedes songs were all feel good, triumph songs that were written to bring smiles and joy to people who were experiencing or had experienced pain in their lives.

So, being the super positive person that she was she had to live in an environment that was filled with positive inspiration. Her house in the suburban community of Lima was surrounded by family homes with the cutest children and unfortunately for her and the neighborhood a lunatic driver who would speed through their street with rap music blasting out of his emerald green Mercedes Maybach S600 every day for the past month ignoring the speed limit and aggravating her to no end.

She had figured out the times he would come by, and it was not like the sound of his music wasn't a warning either, and she had begun hitting softballs off the balcony of her house to slow him down diverting his attention from his music so he could see the ball flying by and slow down. However, he had obviously gotten used to her hitting balls across the balcony and continued to speed by without slowing down. This made her so angry that she waited until she could see his car before hitting the ball to divert his attention. When she watched the ball that normally would fly over his car before hitting the ground across the road smash into the passenger side backseat window, Mercedes knew then that the excrement had hit the fan.

Sam couldn't believe that the psycho who had been hitting balls across his car whenever he drove to and from work was at it again and this time had actually hit his car causing glass to shatter inside his backseat. He didn't stop to think but grabbed the ball and got out of his car to confront the lunatic. As he walked closer to her balcony, he could see a pocket size Venus with chocolate skin, a baseball cap over her head, big brown doe eyes, and curves that were threatening to burst out of her tights and tank that she wore. If he wasn't so angry, he would have taken time to appreciate the view, but he was livid. "How dare you do something so dangerous and destructive!" He yelled at her as soon as he got below her balcony.

"Me…you are the one who keeps speeding through this neighborhood when they are slow kids are playing signs posted along this road. You are a danger to this neighborhood, and I felt it was my civic duty to stop you before somebody gets hurt." Mercedes was not expecting the nincompoop to be so tall, so young, and so obviously manly that her previous thoughts that his car and taste in music were overcompensating for his small penis size or mid-life crisis were thrown outside the window.

"Listen here lady if anyone is a danger to this community, it is you hitting balls at cars. A child could have been in my backseat. You could have done permanent damage. As it is you are most definitely paying for the damages that you have done to my car."

"I didn't mean to hit your window. I have you know that my daddy coached my Little League team, and I was his best batter. I also played on my junior high softball team. My aim is 100% true. It was your fault that your window got smashed. If you wouldn't disregard the law and all the signs posted, I wouldn't have been hitting balls from my balcony to slow your roll down."

"I don't know what loony bin you have escaped from, but anyone crazy enough to be hitting balls from the balcony of their home over or at cars is certifiable. You need to be locked up and have a psych evaluation done to keep you and your menacing ways away from the general public."

"Well, I am not the crazy one who leaves an almost $200,000 car running in the middle of the streets with the doors open and rap music blaring out of it. It would serve you right if someone came along and stole your car that you are obviously not mentally equipped to drive."

"Why you listen here you little…" Sam began only to be interrupted with the sounds of a siren being emitted from a police car. He was so happy to see the arrival of the police hoping that this crazy lady would be arrested with reckless behavior and forced to pay for the damages done to his vehicle. Sam was so busy looking at the crazy lady that he didn't see the law enforcement officer running his license plate number.

"Which one of you is the driver of this car?" The young male officer asked looking at Mercedes' curves and recognizing her as one of his favorite singers.

"You are referring to him. The irresponsible speedy swine who endangers the lives of the pedestrians in my neighborhood on a daily basis." Mercedes said pointing at the man who now had a smirk on his face.

"Well, you sir have several unpaid speeding tickets, and I am going to have to take you in." The young officer took his eyes off of Mercedes long enough to look at the man grimacing at her.

"What the hell…I don't have any unpaid speeding tickets. Look, this is the woman that you need to be arresting; she hit this ball with her bat and damaged my car." Sam said not believing this was happening.

"You are the public nuisance, and I am not surprised at all by the unpaid speeding tickets. He comes through our neighborhood every day blaring that 80s rap music and speeding through, and I was just hitting these balls across the road not at his car mind you but to get his attention to slow down. I figured it was my civic duty to keep the little kids and small animals in my neighborhood safe." Mercedes explained while batting her eyelids at the officer.

"I am sorry ma'am, but I am going to have to take both of you in. Destruction of property by launching items at a moving vehicle is against the law. I hate to do this, but you both have the right to remain silent…" The young officer continue to Mirandize the two as his partner led the tow truck in removing Sam's vehicle from the street and then helping him to put the two of them in the back seat of the squad car.

Later on that morning Mercedes felt as if she was about to die. She was stuck in a cell with skanks who smelled of cheap alcohol, cigarettes, and funk. Her mother was going to kill her. She was in a holding cell. What if her fans found out? What would she tell her label, manager, and publicist if word got out? She hated that man who was the reason she was suffering in her cell now trying to keep her head low beneath her cap to keep from being recognized. She had used her one call to call her friend Mike who was a lawyer and married to her best friend Tina. Mike said that he would be on his way to post her bail and everything, but she couldn't tolerate the holding cell for much longer.

Sam couldn't believe he was sitting in a holding cell in a jail stuck with a freak who appeared to be stoned and a drunk because of that lunatic who thought it was a good idea to hit balls from her balcony. She was obviously a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal, and he regretted the law having to be called because who knew that leaving it up to his airhead secretary Brittany Pierce to pay his tickets would result in him being arrested and being taken to jail like a common criminal.

Sam was about to get a chance to make his one phone call when the officer who arrested them informed them that their arraignment had been pushed up. Judge Jones was ready to hear their case with his mother serving as the Assistant District Attorney. Sam knew he was screwed his mom was not his biggest fan, and she would be extra hard on him for embarrassing their family name.

When Mercedes heard the news with Sam she almost fainted. Her mother was hearing their case. This had to be a nightmare she thought as she tried to prevent herself from hyperventilating. When she and Sam neared the courthouse and entered into the place the hearing was to be heard, Sam heard a name that sounded familiar to him being called and saw her face and realized as the lawyer greeted her with a kiss on the cheek that the woman who had damaged his car was a Grammy nominated singer and the daughter of the judge who she appeared to be terrified of seeing.

"Mike, my mom is going to be so hard on me. You know how she feels about me. We have to get another judge." Mercedes was telling him, and Sam overheard. He also informed them that the ADA was his mom, and that they were doubly screwed.

After their case was called the People vs. Mercedes Jones and Samuel Evans, Mercedes looked at her mom with horror as the judge fussed through the file; "Mercedes Jones, you have the same name as my daughter." Judge Jones looked at ADA Evans and asked her was Sam related to her, and Sam's mother looked at him in horror and recognition.

As Mary Evans read the reason why her son and her good friend Judge Jones' daughter were in court, she was so mad that she couldn't keep the anger from her voice. "Yes, unfortunately your honor he is my son."

After hearing the charges, Judge Jones sensing Mary's anger asked for Mike, Mercedes' defense lawyer, and Mary to come to her bench. While the three of them were talking and looking at their children and shaking their heads, Sam and Mercedes knew that the toughest sentence ever was headed their way.

When Mike came back with a slight smile on his face, Mercedes couldn't believe it. She also couldn't believe that her mom had decided to recuse herself from the case along with the assistant district attorney who happened to be Sam's mom out of all people. There was to be a short recess while the ADA and judge both had replacements brought to fill in for them to hear the case due to the conflicts of interest.

Sam couldn't believe he was stuck in court longer than necessary and feeling his mother's wrath from across the room as she discussed things with Mercedes' mother. Mercedes and Mike were discussing her case when he heard Mercedes using legal terminology when she was discussing her defense with Mike like an expert. "Did you major in law or something?" Sam asked pretending still not to recognize Mercedes as a famous singer.

"She was a law major and could be practicing now if she had decided to take the Bar Exam. She thought the world needed more happiness instead." God bless Mike for answering for her. Tina chose a winner when she decided to marry him.

Sam looked at Mercedes in amazement and uttered out his thoughts before filtering them, "You were smart enough to get in law school but stupid enough to think that hitting softballs at moving cars was a smart thing to do."

Before Mercedes could comment back, she heard the bailiff say "All arise for the Honorable Roz Washington."

"Oh, hell to the no!" Mercedes groaned as if in agony.

"What is your problem now?" Sam asked her sure that the singer was either on drugs or just plain crazy.

"She is one of my mother's best friends and was just as disappointed as my mother when I chose to be a singer rather than a lawyer."

"And?" Sam asked not understanding the problem. Judge Washington continued, "We are waiting on someone to arrive from the district attorney's office, then we'll proceed." As soon as the judge finished her sentence the door burst open and a tall woman hurried down the aisle of the courtroom.

Mercedes turned around to see both of their mothers walking in with the tall woman. The three of the ladies appeared to be bosom friends and laughing before Judge Washington greeted her to join the court. Mercedes had heard the trio whispering about the legality of something and her mom whispered that 'everything was perfectly legal'. Looking at the horror on Sam's face, Mercedes questioned him.

"The new ADA is my mother's mentor." Sam muttered knowing that Sue Sylvester hated his guts and would do anything his mother suggested to pay Sam back from any an all misdeeds real or imagined.

Mercedes looked at the expression on Sam Evans' face. He was handsome maybe too boyishly handsome for her taste, but his body was HOT! "Oh, this is going to be very bad! I think they are all friends look at their expressions towards one another. This does not bode well for us at all."

"Something is going on Mercedes, my mom just winked at Judge Washington." Sam said ignoring Mike trying to reassure the both of them.

"Order in the court!" Judge Washington yelled while banging her gavel after listening to the charges of the defendants. The rest of the courtroom fell silent. "Does the prosecution have anything else to add?" She asked looking at ADA Sylvester.

Sue Sylvester got up and looked at Sam with a smirk then said, "Ms. Jones and Mr. Evans could be given a fine and forced to pay it which would not be a hardship considering their wealth. The question remains would they learn from their behavior or will they continue to act irresponsibly and reappear in court on similar foolish charges."

"She says that as if we have done a horrible thing like we have committed murder or theft. I don't think we have done anything to justify that comment." Sam muttered out loud once again forgetting to filter his tongue.

"Are you out of your mind that means you would continue to speed through my neighborhood like a bat out of hell?" Mercedes told him not believing the words that came out of Sam Evans' mouth.

"Are you two finished with your discussion?" Judge Washington asked not a least bit amused. "Mr. Chang, are you capable of keeping your clients' mouth closed this is a court of law not their personal living room?"

"Yes, your honor." Mike said looking at Mercedes and Sam with a rebuking glare.

"You, see your honor that there is the problem. Because of their parents and Mercedes Jones' celebrity status, these two believe they are above the law. They are both out of control and need to be stopped before something more destructive and or deadly occurs."

Mercedes couldn't believe she was hearing some of the same words especially the phrase concerning fame going to her head just the other day over breakfast. She looked at her mom in disbelief.

"Does the defense have anything else to add?" Judge Washington looked at Mike.

Mike who had been looking at the mothers and now the new judge and ADA with a perplexed expression on his face just decided to state what he and Mercedes thought was the rational and best defense to admit their guilt and agree to pay whatever fines given to them by the court without argument. "Ms. Jones is more than willing to pay whatever the amount is needed to repair Mr. Evans'car, and Mr. Evans agrees to pay all of his speeding tickets and attend driver's education classes to avoid having his license to drive revoked."

Sam couldn't believe that Mike Chang had decided that he should attend driver's ed. "Hell to the No, I am not attending a driver's class like I am a 16 year old; I am 32 years old, and I refused to do so!" Sam continued to yell with Mercedes pulling his coat trying to calm him down, but she couldn't stop herself from adding her two cents. "I am sure everyone in court is aware of your age, but Mike is trying to save your ass and your license." When Sam looked at her as if he wanted to curse her out, Mercedes couldn't help but say, "Sam you really need to learn how to use your speedometer, and this class maybe could teach you what those numbers on the speedometer mean."

All that could be heard next was the sound of the gavel banging down masking the giggles of everyone in the courtroom. "Mr. Evans and Ms. Jones, that's enough! You have both lost your collective minds acting the fool up in my courtroom. You both believe you are above the law, and I feel as if I should sentence you both to thirty days in jail."

Mike stood up and begged the judge for leniency. "Your honor my client Mercedes Jones is a celebrity, and any sentencing to jail for such a long time would cause a media frenzy in our small town. Paparazzi would inundate our lovely town and speculation on the case and Mr. Evans and on both families would cause a major media sensation here in Lima. I ask that you reconsider imprisonment considering the damaging nature it would have on both defendants' reputations.

"Noted." Judge Washington agreed while looking towards Judge Jones and ADA Evans with a grin on her face.

Sam looked at the interaction and was wondering what the hell was going on. Mercedes had a similar look on her face but she tried to keep the look of horror from appearing on her face when she looked at the legal eagles who couldn't keep the grins from the four of their faces.

Judge Washington asked for Mr. Chang to tell his clients to rise, and he followed her demands with a worried expression on his face. Then Judge Washington told the two, "Ms. Jones you will pay for all the damages that your softball caused to Mr. Evans' vehicle along with a $3,500 fine. Mr. Evans if you don't complete a driver's education course in 60 days, I will have your driver's license suspended. In addition I am sentencing you both to 45 hours of community service.

Mercedes was so relieved. She could easily afford to pay the damages and fine without blinking her eye, and she loved giving back to the community so the hours of community service would be no problem. She took a deep breath and was about to smile until she heard Judge Washington continue. "Because the two of you have shown me and the court and most importantly the judicial system and the law of the land such blatant disregard today with your disruptive, rude, argumentative, and disrespectful behavior, I think that the best punishment for the both of you is to spend time in each other's presence. So, I am sentencing you to a year and a half of quality time with each other."

"What the hell does that mean?" Sam asked once again not understanding court etiquette or how to keep his big mouth closed.

Judge Washington banged her gavel again. "Mr. Evans those big lips of yours are going to continue to get you in a world of trouble with all that yapping you continue to do. It means that you and Ms. Jones are ordered to spend a year and six months married to each other while living in the same residence, and by doing so you will leave my courtroom without being held in contempt of court, and the court will expunge any and all records of this arrest which will help Ms. Jones out the most considering her celebrity lifestyle. But listen to me closely, if the two of you fail to get married and live with each other for the appointed time, then you will both have criminal records and be forced to serve the 30 day sentence that you two rightfully deserve in jail. You two have three days to get your affairs in order and report back to the courtroom with a wedding date, Ms. Jones payment of the fine, and proof of Mr. Evans' enrollment in a driver's education program. Court is adjourned." Judge Washington banged her gavel and walk towards the laughing mothers who were now laughing at their children so hard once the bailiff told all to rise.

Mercedes, who had been speechless until now, not willing to risk angering Judge Washington any further, looked at Sam who looked as if he was in shock and then at Mike and asked if they had just been sentenced to marriage.

Mike not believing anything that had happened today in the courtroom looked at them with horror and nodded his head in agreement.

Sam still in shock asked, "Could she sentence us to marriage?"

Mike replied, "She is the judge, and she can do pretty much anything. You can try to appeal this, but most of the appellate judges and the legal community are pretty close knit with both of your parents, and I believe they will do whatever your parents want. And judging by the looks on their faces, the two of them are enjoying your sentence too much to change anything about it."

Mercedes and Sam looked at each other then at their mothers who both waved at them and blew kisses while wearing shit eating grins. Mercedes looked at Sam and asked him, "Do you think we were set up?"

Sam looked down to Mercedes and stared her straight in the eyes and replied, "Hell yes, they probably planned this the minute we were locked up."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: None of the story is original except for my OCs so I can't take total credit for it if you are enjoying it. The idea for the story is solely JT Schultz's, and you can read _Tickled Pink_ on Kindle Unlimited for free if you enjoy the story and of course RIB owns Samcedes and the Glee peeps mentioned in the story. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and favorites and follows that hit my inbox as a response to reading Chapter One of this story. I hope you enjoy Chapter Two…

Chapter Two

Thursday night before they were due in court the next day, Sam had agreed to meet with Mercedes and Mike to discuss the details concerning the wedding that they were going to present to Judge Washington. They had agreed to meet in neutral territory which was the Changs' home located in an upper middle class neighborhood of Lima. Although Sam was still incensed from having to enroll in and take a driver's education course, he could tell Mike was good people and had taking a liking to the guy.

Sam got out of his car grabbing a bottle of wine that he had remembered to bring and stared at the cars in the driveway and was instantly depressed when he noticed his father's Jaguar XJ parked near an Audi A8 which had a license plate that said #1ToothDoc which he assumed was Mercedes' dad vehicle. The only other car in the parking lot was a candy apple red 1961 Ferrari Modena Spyder that he assumed must have belonged to Mike Chang since Mercedes Jones was against speeding and probably sports cars of any kind.

He wondered if Mercedes was even at the Changs' home yet. His bride to be was many things and unlike any woman he had dated in the past. She was his complete opposite, and he wondered how his mom thought that she would be a good match for him when she thought of this preposterous sentence with Mercedes' mom. Mercedes did not deserve his lousy attitude towards their pending nuptials. She was just a victim like him, and they would both be able to tell the tale of how their year and a half marriage began with the two of them being arrested together.

Sam rang the doorbell, and was not surprised to see Mike Chang opening the door. After exchanging greetings, Sam acknowledged the obvious addition of both sets of parents being invited that night.

"Yes, my wife Tina thought it was best to invite them because Mercedes is no longer speaking to her mother. She is hoping that tonight will provide some kind of reconciliation between the two. Her mother addresses Mercedes, but Mercedes sends her responses back to her mother by another person in the room. The two of them are both at their breaking points, and Tina wants to reduce the amount of collateral damage that could result if the two break out into a shouting match. Both of them are stubborn and have to have the last word, but according to the two of them, they are nothing alike.

Sam looked at Mike with his mouth hanging open. "I guess Mercedes is really something, she is sounding more endearing by the minute." Sam said with sarcasm.

"She is actually more than words can express, but the term something else is just a minor description of the one and the only Mercedes Jones." Mike said after chuckling at Sam's response.

Sam didn't want to disagree with his host, so he decided to change the subject. "I couldn't help but notice your 1961 Spyder. That car is absolutely gorgeous."

"Oh, that car isn't mine; it's actually your future wife's." Mike said laughing thinking he wished he could call Cedes' Baby his.

Sam entered into the Changs' home and as an interior designer noted the décor had a slight Asian influence and was very nice and classy as he followed Mike further into his home. "I called several lawyers about the case, and they…"

"Hung up on you." Mike finished before adding, "I did the same thing with judges as well and as soon as they heard Jones and Evans they hung up the phone on me as well. No one is willing to go against your mothers and especially Judge Washington and ADA Sylvester. These are four of the most feared ladies in the Ohio judicial system. An ADA Sylvester is known for being less scrupulous and holding a grudge forever." Mike noticed the bottle of wine in Sam's hand and thanked him before commenting that he didn't think Sam was much of a wine drinker.

"I am more of a hard liquor and beer man myself." Sam admitted before being led into the great room where the parents were seated.

"There is my son the last to arrive as always." His mother commented looking at him with disapproval in his eyes.

"And my future son-in-law, I have known your mother for years with the various trials we have worked on together and the charities that we both are part of. However, I am sure you haven't met my husband. Honey this is Sam Evans, and Sam this is my husband Dr. Malachi Jones. He is a dentist here in Lima." She said watching the two men shake hands. Dr. Jones was the complete opposite of his wife. He was a quiet man, about six feet and built like a linebacker. His handshake was firm, and although his wife was obviously the bulldozer in the relationship, Dr. Jones was obviously far from being a weak man.

After greeting the Jones and his mother, Sam went to give his own dad a big hug. After he finished greeting his dad, his mom told him that he was just in time to hear the details that she and Melanie were putting into the wedding. Sam quickly corrected her telling her that there was not going to be a wedding.

"Well according to Judge Washington, there will be a wedding son whether you like it or not." His mother replied her aggravation towards him returning.

"Since it's not going to be a real marriage there is no need to plan a fancy catered affair."

"This is the first wedding for both our families' children, and I don't know about Mary, but I was beginning to wonder if Mercedes would ever settle down long enough to marry with all that singing and touring around the world the girl has never stayed in one place long enough to have a relationship nevertheless get a chance to become somebody's bride. We have been looking forward to this day for years." Judge Jones responded in umbrage to Sam's lack of regard towards his pending wedding.

"I know that Mrs. Jones, but we don't have time to plan a fancy wedding. We want to be married as soon as possible, so we can have the marriage annulled as quickly as we can."

"Sam, we are not stupid. It would take at least 6 months to arrange a fancy society wedding, but that doesn't mean we can't take the time to give you a nice wedding." His mother responded ready to chew Sam up and spit him out.

As always Sam couldn't keep his mouth shut and continued. "I don't care what you would like to do mother, but I refuse to have a huge fiasco consisting of parties, a big tent, doves, bows on pews, and a big cake taking up half a table. There is no way in hell that will I participate in such a grandiose affair when this marriage is not about love but about being court ordered to marry."

"Samuel James Evans, watch your mouth!" His mother scolded him looking at him while shaking her head in disgrace.

Mike seeing that things were about to escalate between Sam and his mother decided to interrupt reminding Sam of the wine in his hands and urging Sam to go to the kitchen with him to get a drink and to be introduced to his wife Tina.

Sam followed Mike into the kitchen and noticed the bridal magazine in his mother's hand. "You will need to throw that magazine in the trash while I am gone." He told her as he exited the room. He turned towards Mike and told him that he wasn't going to survive this sentence.

As soon as Mercedes saw Mike and Sam enter into the kitchen. She asked Mike had he mentioned the prenuptial agreement that she had him draw up to Sam.

"Yes, Mercedes, Sam and I discussed the prenup when I gave him directions to the house this afternoon. Sometime before you guys wedding, you will both need to sign it, and I will make sure that everything is in order. Sam has assets to protect as well with his comic books, and so the agreement will protect the both of you. Now let me introduce you to this lovely lady who I love with all of my heart, Tina this is Sam, and Sam this is Tina."

Tina stepped forward and shook Sam's hand telling Sam it was nice to meet him and welcoming him into her home. Sam looked at Tina and exchanged pleasantries thanking her for having the get together, but he didn't look at her long because he couldn't keep his eyes from being drawn to Mercedes who was standing next to Tina in a printed black dress with silver words written all over it. The dress was accentuating her hourglass shape. Her hair which had been in a curly ponytail when he first met her was now straightened and fell down her neck past her shoulders. Sam couldn't believe he had forgotten just how gorgeous she was.

Mercedes noticing Sam staring at her greeted him. Her fun and laughter that she had been previously experiencing with Tina evaporated from her face when she realized he was just going to stare at her and say nothing which prompted her to be the bigger person and ask how was he doing.

Hearing Mercedes' voice brought Sam out of his daze. He could tell she was forcing herself to be polite, so he decided to be honest as possible and tell her he was doing the best that he could, considering their situation. Sam could feel Mercedes' gaze on him as she finally focused on his appearance perusing his body from head to toe, and the light that briefly lit up her dark gaze turned him on.

Mercedes turned her attention to Mike, and she asked, "Is my mother behaving?"

"If looking at wedding magazines with Mrs. Evans and planning the social event of the year for Lima means behaving, then yes, she is being impeccable."

"Oh hell to no! Has my mother lost her ever loving mind or Tina have you spiked the lemonade and gotten her drunk?" Mercedes planted her hands on her curvy hips drawing Sam's attention to her small waist and the hips that those tiny hands rested on. Sam tried his best to keep his eyes above her neck but he couldn't stop his eyes from staring up her body and stopping at her breasts which the material of the dress clung to. Mercedes Jones was what his dad would call a 'brick house' and her hourglass figure was built for sin. He had to get all of his thoughts off of that hot body, so he looked at the glass of wine that Mike had poured for him and began to drink it.

"Yep, Mercedes I think she was talking about letting you wear her old wedding dress which was passed down to her mother from her great grandmother. She is just hoping that you will still be able to wear white" Mike said teasing Mercedes. He had known her throughout law school and he knew how serious Mercedes Jones was about her clothes.

"Oh double hell to the No! Tina, you better keep me away from that woman." Mercedes started to count down from twenty a coping mechanism she had to use often when dealing her mother the Honorable Melanie Jones.

"Is hell to the no some sort of catchphrase or something for you?" Sam asked Mercedes realizing that this wasn't the first time that he heard those words come out of her mouth. When they were being arrested was the first time he had heard her whisper the phrase, when she found out her mother was the judge was the second time, and when they were sentenced was the third time he said reminding her of how often she said the words.

"Oh, if you knew my mother, then you would now why I say those words. She used to wash my mouth out with soap because I apparently had a potty mouth when growing up, and I try not to curse too badly in public because I can still remember the taste of soap in my mouth, so I say that phrase to keep me from saying other four letter words that according to my mother are impolite for a lady to say in public." Mercedes threw her hair over her shoulder and giggled causing Sam to be even more turned on by her. She was not flirting with him but her girlish giggle was sexy as hell, and Sam began to wonder how he was going to last eighteen months living with this woman. Oh well, cold showers would definitely be a reality in his future.

Sam's focus for the rest of their respite in the kitchen away from their parents consisted of him finally being able to take his eyes off of her chest, and he was now busy looking at her plush lips that her pink gloss emphasized the softness and fullness of. Sam could picture himself kissing her lips and removing all the gloss so he could see what her lips looked like without any color added to them. If his attraction to Mercedes continued to grow every moment he spent with her then he was going to be a walking a hard on. He needed to get laid because all he could think of right now was sex with Mercedes which they had both agreed was not happening because they wanted to get the marriage annulled as soon as possible.

Mercedes tried to enjoy the Changs and Sam's company, but as Sam continued to talk about his comic book side business, Mercedes couldn't keep herself from teasing him about his interests. She was an accomplished actress because living with her mother for eighteen years and pretending to care about being a lawyer for six years had given her much practice in the art of deception. When Sam finally figured out Mercedes was joking, she had succeeded in stopping him from eye sexing her up in her friends' kitchen of all places. She finally decided to step outside and get some air to clear her thoughts and to dispel the feeling of upcoming chaos from her mind.

Mercedes didn't know what she had done to make God punish her with Sam Evans as her future spouse. Sure Sam was gorgeous but just because he was hot didn't mean she wanted to spend a year and a half of her life with the goofy playboy. She hadn't wasted time after their sentencing to go home and Google Sam Evans, and what she found out hadn't surprised her at all.

According to the information online, his mother's side of the family was from old Southern money, and Sam was now a sought after interior designer having won the coveted American Society of Interior Designers "Design Innovation Award" two years ago which was impressive because he wasn't a full time designer. According to his website, Sam worked 30 hours of week for his father and 30 hours of week on his comic books. His work in comics kept him on the road traveling to San Diego, Denver, and New York, and other places where comic conventions were held. He worked hard and played hard according to the social pages which had him pictured with beautiful tall white women at various events which had given him the reputation of playboy by gossip columnists and were the only images she could find of him on the internet. She was obviously not his type, but that hadn't kept his eyes from devouring her figure earlier.

Mercedes was jostled out of her thoughts by Tina's appearance outside bringing her a glass of the wine from the bottle that Sam had brought. "I thought you might need a drink to help you deal with Sam and your mother." Tina said as she handed the glass to Mercedes.

"Well thanks for having us over, but I really can only deal with one of the two without losing my temper, and you invited not just my parents but his as well." Mercedes said with a grin slowly slipping the wine.

"Alright, I agree that that may not have been the wisest decision on my part, but I can't say I am upset about inviting your future husband because he is one gorgeous, hot, and sexy man; you have to admit that if you were forced to marry someone at least he is not a troll."

"Well, I was doing okay with his attractiveness until he start looking at me with bedroom eyes. I swear if eyes could shoot sperm, I think I would be six months pregnant with twins now. Seriously, I can't believe I am attracted to him when we have agreed to no sex so we can have the marriage annulled."

"I am sure something good is going to come out of the situation Mercedes. His mother and your mother have a crazy, illogical, and demented reason for doing this, and you two are just going to have to hope that it's worth it because I can't be visiting you whenever I want to see you in jail; furthermore, I don't doubt that your mom would stop Judge Washington from having you put in there so that it could damage your singing career."

"Tina, I just feel like all of this is my fault. That Sam is being punished because I decided that I didn't want to go into law. My mother is such a control freak, and any way that she can get back at me, she will. Also, I can't imagine living with Sam; we are complete opposites. I can only see us being miserable together which to my mother would be a fitting punishment. I have made her life miserable by being a singer and not a lawyer, and she is going to make my life miserable by punishing me into marrying a man whose car window I burst out with a softball, caused to go to jail, and to go to driver's education which he sorely needs anyways."

"Mercedes, you are way too hard on yourself. You can't shoulder all the blame for this fiasco. I don't think your mother was the only one behind this marriage idea. It seems as if Sam's mom is more into the planning of your wedding than she is. I think they want to see their children settled and figured this was the only way they could get the two of you to settle down."

"Oh so being court ordered to marry is the new way to go about arranging marriages?" Mercedes asked thinking what Tina was saying made sense. Her mother and Sam's mother were friends, and she couldn't help but to think that Tina could be half right.

"Come on Cedes show me that million dollar smile that lights up a room. You know this marriage will be over before you know it. And look on the bright side at least your dad didn't have to pay the dowry of silk, livestock, and cash to seal the deal."

Mercedes burst out laughing. "You are one twisted woman Tina Chang, and I love you. I don't know what I would do if you were not in my life." Mercedes sobered up when she realized how close she was to losing her best friend to cancer. Tina was a fighter a true survivor, and when Mercedes thought of all her friend had gone through the chemo, the radiation, the matching pink wigs they wore to support and recognize breast cancer victims and survivors, Mercedes knew her life could be worse than being force to marry Sam Evans for one year. "Thanks for being the best friend a girl could ever dream of having." Mercedes said already filling a little tipsy for drinking a glass of wine on an empty stomach.

"Don't thank me yet, I didn't give you the message that I originally came out to tell you which was Sam and Mike are both waiting for you in Mike's office." Tina told her friend with a grimace.

"Thanks for spoiling my appetite then friend. I don't want to think about this marriage any more, but apparently I am not going to be able to escape my reality."

"Don't worry, we have wine to drink tonight, and you are welcome to stay the night or we can force Mike to be your designated driver, so let's turn up if things get too messy."

"Don't you know that according to my mother 'messy' is my middle name? Please tell me that we are having some chocolate to go along with the wine. I need something to boost my mood."

"I have a chocolate cheesecake for dessert with both of our names written on it." Mercedes followed Tina back into the house and overheard Mike and Sam talking about football a sport that she had absolutely no interest in whatsoever. "Am I interrupting?" Mercedes asked the two as she entered into the office stopping to stand in front of Mike's desk beside Sam.

"No, of course not," Mike replied as he motioned for Mercedes to have a seat.

"Okay Mercedes, Sam has looked over the prenuptial agreement and has already signed off on it. It is basically stating that you two will leave the marriage with what you brought into it, and that neither one of you will sue for intellectual property or gains that were made during your marriage. Since the marriage will not last over two years, I don't think we need to worry about adding custodial arrangement for kids and the division of property."

"You are right about the kids there will be no kids because we will not be consummating the marriage."

"Mercedes is right, having kids will be impossible because instead of going through a divorce we are going to have this marriage annulled."

"Well, you two don't need to wait, you can go ahead and read and sign off on the prenup. Have you two decided on a wedding date yet?" Mike asked as he handed the copy of the prenuptial agreement that Sam had already signed over to Mercedes.

Sam answered Mike's question. "No we haven't even seen or spoken to each other since that mockery of an arraignment until we met up in your kitchen this evening."

"Do I have to remind you that we meet with the judge, who has the least bit of patience, no sense of humor, and has the reputation for not tolerating bull, tomorrow morning, and if you don't have a wedding date, the both of you will be facing a jail sentence of 30 days? Do you understand that you two are going to have to communicate with each other, make decisions, and live with each other for over a year? This is a serious situation that is not to be taken lightly."

"None of this is our choice Mike. It's our parents and their cronies' fault. I don't want to marry Sam, and I am sure he doesn't want to marry me either." Mercedes said tired of having to defend her attitude towards this court mandated travesty of a marriage.

"The both of you need to understand that this marriage will be what you make of it. It could be an okay time or the worst time of your lives, but only you two have the power to make it be something undesirable. It's not like you have both been sentenced to death." Mike's words were falling on deaf ears. He could tell both Mercedes and Sam were too stubborn to realize that their marriage sentence was not the end of the world for either of them. He couldn't help but utter out the words 'unbelievable' after looking at the two.

Sam couldn't help but ask, "What's so unbelievable?"

"You two because I feel you haven't even looked at the judge's official ruling that smells of both of your mothers' influences. You two are to be married for exactly 548 days. During these 548 days you must live together and have no more than three consecutive days a part. You two are not allowed to spend three days together and then three days apart because you are only allowed the maximum of twenty-two days apart during the entirety of the marriage. You two are not allowed to conduct extra marital affairs, and if you are caught cheating or breaking any of the terms of the marriage, you will have nullified the judge's order and will end up back in court in front of the judge who is known for not having any mercy."

"So, much for any tours that my management team have booked for me that are overseas. I will have to cancel them and pretty much be stateside and work around Sam's schedule for any engagements that involve lengthy travel." Mercedes hadn't toured since Tina's diagnosis, and her management team were busy trying to get her on the road as soon as possible to promote the upcoming release of her sophomore album.

"I am sorry Mercedes. You two are going to have to decide on a residence and a wedding date before leaving here tonight."

"I would prefer that we live in my house since I have a home studio downstairs in which I record in. I don't think it is far from where you live since you drive by my house daily on your commute to work." Mercedes could picture Sam's bachelor's pad in her mind and knew that she would have to leave every day to visit her home to get the creativity needed to write her songs and that she would end up spending more time at her house than his house and if her mother found out, she would threaten to send them back to the judge.

"Well, I guess it would be easier to move my art supplies and my home office then to try to move your studio, so I am willing to move in your house since I already know where it is located. What do you have four or three bedrooms?" Sam asked her looking perturbed at having to be the one to give up his home for over a year.

"It was initially a four bedroom home, but I use one of the bedrooms as an extended closet for my entertainment clothes. My studio is located downstairs, and you are more than welcome to use one of the bedrooms to sleep in and the other to use as your office or you can use the small study as your office if the space is sufficient. When do you think we should tie the knot?" She asked since she decided their living arrangements, she thought it would be only fair for him to decide when they get married.

"As soon as possible, the quicker we get married, the quicker we can have it annulled and get back to our lives."

"Finally something we agree on. If we are going to do this, then we are going to have stand firm and be united against our wedding crazy mothers."

"The two of them are acting as if this is a love match made in heaven and not the courtroom, but I don't care what they say or how they act, I am free this weekend except for Sunday night. My mom makes all of us come to her house for a family dinner preferably after church, but church attendance is not required.

"Well, I am an only child, so we don't do big family meals. I am only required to show up at the dinner table on Christmas, or if she does some fundraising gala throughout the year that doesn't conflict with my schedule. Although she hates my career, she doesn't mind using it for her advantage for her many charities. My weekend is clear except I need to be in Vegas on Monday to discuss a possible show that I can't cancel at this late date." Mercedes grudgingly admitted.

"You have to be in Vegas on Monday. That's perfect. We can move my stuff in your house over the weekend, and on Monday I can fly to Vegas with you and after your meeting we can get married there."

Just like that Sam had organized their future, and Mercedes couldn't stop the sinking feeling that she felt in her belly. Her whole world was being turned upside down, but at least she would be able to gain a little control of her life over her mother and rob her of the wedding that she was busy planning with Mrs. Evans. "Okay," she said looking at Sam before looking to Mike. "I guess we have everything that you need to present to the judge tomorrow." She told him as she finished reading the prenup and signed it; somehow feeling as if she was sealing her fate.

Tina came back in while Mercedes was signing the prenuptial agreement. "Excuse me for interrupting but dinner is ready." Mercedes looked at her friend and gave the paper and pen to Mike and got up telling Tina that she would help serve since they were all finished.

Sam had to admit that the five course meal that Tina had put together was incredible. The starter, soup, salad, and meal were mouthwatering, but he just couldn't find his appetite to enjoy any of it even the fabulous looking dessert served with coffee. He spent the majority of the meal sneaking looks at Mercedes than he did focusing on the conversation going on around the table. His mother's grating voice soon captured his attention when she said his name.

"I am just saying as horrifying as it would be to have Samuel as a jailbird ex-con being known as my son; it would be just as awful as having the true state behind his marriage being revealed to society. This could negatively effect Mercedes' singing career and both my and Melanie's careers in law and our future careers in politics if we decide one day to run for governor or become a federal judge."

"Mary you are absolutely right. Sam and Mercedes, it is imperative that you make everybody believe that this marriage is for real. It will be bad enough when your divorce comes through, but I am sure Hollywood is used to celebrity marriages ending in divorce. It is always a surprise when _those_ marriages last." Melanie Jones added looking at her daughter with judgmental eyes.

"Annulment you mean," Sam corrected Mercedes' mother. "We have both agreed to have the marriage annulled not that it is any of your business." Loose lips Sam was back at it again. Mercedes may be hotheaded, but Sam's impulsiveness was equally as exasperating to the mothers.

"Oh it will definitely be everybody's business. You keep forgetting Mercedes is a celebrity, and her marriage to you will pique the media's attention whether you both want it to or not. Plus, Mary and I are well known throughout this great state of Ohio. What our children are doing will be of interests. And if you two cannot pretend to be happily married, then I will let Judge Washington throw the book at the both of you and blame Hollywood on Mercedes' erratic behavior tell everyone she is having a Britney Spears' meltdown, but you I am sure I will leave for your mother to handle. If you make my daughter a laughingstock, then I will hope she will deal with you appropriately, or I will not rest until you feel the weight and wrath that accompanies going against Melanie Marshall Jones."

"Sam, how could you be so disrespectful? Dwight, you see we should have sent him to military school. The boy has no manners or Southern gentleman decorum. I am sure my grandparents are rolling over in their graves to think that a son of ours would not mind being arrested or publicly embarrassing our names by admitting to be in a fake marriage by confessing that he was sentenced to be married. I just don't know. I am about to wash my hands of him and prevent him from being around his younger sister and brother. He truly needs to realize that his actions are the reason why he is in the situation he is today."

"You two need to stop jumping down Sam's throat when he is only guilty of speaking the truth, and mother I am so tired of you looking down your nose on me because I am a professional singer. Sam and I are being punished because you two can't seem to fucking let go. We are adults. We are going to make mistakes but that doesn't give you two the motherfucking right to dictate what we do, when we do it, or even how we do it!"

"Mercedes, that is enough I know you are upset, but we are guests in the Changs' home, and I will not tolerate you speaking to your mother or Mrs. Evans in this manner. If you could pretend to go to law school and waste all that tuition money for a degree you never used, then I know you can pretend to be happily married to Sam for less than two years." Mercedes' heart broke when she heard her daddy take her mother's side.

Her dad always supported her when it came to her mom, but now it was like even he thought faking wedded bliss was her best interest. Mercedes counted down from twenty before addressing her father. "Sam and I both have professional careers that we have been recognized by our respective industries for our accomplishments. Even though we are 100% sure that our mothers convinced Judge Washington to order us to marry, we have done what we have been legally ordered to do even though I am sure that they are all involved in violating the Civil Liberties Act as well revoking the concept of freedom that this country is based upon, we have not made a big stink, but in the privacy of our friends' home we are entitled to voice our opinions, and if you don't like it, then stick it up your ass. Not that any of you care, but I have to put off tours overseas for this marriage to work and I have accepted a Vegas act that will be a bitch to commute to, but none of you seem to care about my career at all."

Mercedes' mom looked at her daughter with no compassion or even shock. "You wouldn't have these problems if you would have pursued a normal job."

"Don't pretend as if I would have decided on being a doctor or a dentist like dad that you would be any different. You are just pissed off that I decided not to follow in the long line of Marshalls that descend from Thurgood Marshall who had the audacity to decide not to be a fucking lawyer like you and the rest of your bourgeoisie family."

"Mercedes you are my baby girl, but I will not tolerate you speaking to your mother like this." Mercedes' dad could tell that both the women in his family were at the point of throwing words like daggers and this was not the time or the place.

Sam was enjoying seeing the spitfire that his future wife was. She was intelligent, passionate, and obviously a lot more than the sexy body and beautiful voice that he initially thought she was. Tina fortunately got up to diffuse the situation before it became more volatile and began clearing dishes with Mercedes quickly volunteering to help her. Sam hadn't thought of all Mercedes was giving up to being his wife, and he stopped Tina from going into kitchen, but chose to grab the dishes out of her hand and join Mercedes himself.

As Sam entered the kitchen he was not prepared to see that ass as she was bending down placing dishes in the dishwater. He had to stop himself from cursing out loud as he let out an internal wolf whistle at his appreciation of the ass that could launch one million ships. He couldn't help the strong surge of arousal that poured through his veins as he appreciated every facet of his future wife's killer shape. The only thing that stopped him from licking his lips and standing their appreciating the view was the faint sounds of sniffling he heard coming from her direction. Her muffled cries lured him to come closer to her to comfort her not to just hand her the dishes.

Without turning around, Mercedes heard Tina enter the kitchen. "I know what you are going to say, and I know I was wrong for losing my cool and showing my ass off at your dinner table."

"Hell no, I agreed with everything you said and more. If I could have co-signed while we were out there I would have, but neither you nor your mother or father would allow anyone else into the conversation."

Mercedes turned around in shock when she heard Sam's voice saying the words that she needed to hear being said. "You are not Tina," were the only words that Mercedes was capable of uttering.

"No, I am about a foot taller than she is. Not to mention that I don't think I have the legs to carry off her dress; look at my legs and see if you don't agree."

Mercedes appreciated Sam's attempt at humor. "I usually never cry, my mom convinced me as a child that it was a sign of weakness." She admitted to him as she dried the tears from her face and eyes.

"Believe me I understand completely where you are coming from. My mom hated the fact that I didn't go into law like she wanted me to do, but I followed more in my father's footsteps, and when I didn't even want to become a prestigious architect but wanted to design the interior of buildings instead you should have been around for the fight, and when I earned enough to write and publish my own line of comics, the shit really hit the fan then."

"It seems we have more in common than I initially thought which has equipped us with an automated response to defend and comfort each other against those two women out there who think they should be Mother of the Year." Mercedes looked at Sam for the first time and didn't see the irresponsible jerk but a man who grew up in a household similar to hers.

Sam looked at Mercedes and nodded his head in agreement. This was the first time he had seen Mercedes in make-up, and even crying hadn't disturbed her beauty it was if possible her enlarged dark eyes made her look even more beautiful. "I think we should pretend that this is the first time we have met and start over. Hi, my name is Sam Evans, and I enjoy fast cars, drawing, and watching movies with heroes."

"Hello, Sam Evans, my name is Mercedes Jones, and I enjoy writing and singing songs that bring people hope, inspiration, and joy. I also enjoy watching superhero movies as well, and it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She said reaching out her hand to his.

Sam couldn't believe the heat that traveled through his skin on touching hers in the innocent hand shake. It was if a short burst of electricity traveled throughout his body. He couldn't stop the smile from appearing on his face as he told her it was nice to meet her as well.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own much, but I do owe a lot of thanks to those of you who continue to read, review, follow, and favorite this story. I am caught up now with Tumblr, so I won't have to do these double postings. I will try to post the story here, and put the link on my Tumblr page when I finish Chapter Four which is been a major rewrite and departure from the story. I had to do research ugh to get it 3/4ths finished. I just don't know if I am going to stay true to _Tickled Pink_ or put my own TB spin to it to end the chapter.

Chapter Three

Sam was relieved that he was back in his office after a morning spent in court with the Honorable Roz Washington and after the horrible meeting with a client for lunch that lasted for four hours because he had a client who wouldn't agree on the critical placing of a wall. The only good thing that happened today was Mercedes had shown up in a black leather dress with a peplum top that Stacie said was all the rage in fashion and stiletto heels. He was sure the black was symbolic of her mourning her state of singlehood, and he could feel her pain. Sam hadn't been in a committed relationship since his girlfriend Marley left him to move to New York. Not that he was serious about the model, but she was kind and gorgeous something that was not common with the people he had met since becoming a millionaire. He normally dated two women at a time, but as far as he could remember the last time he was serious about a woman was when he was dating Quinn seven years ago when he was young and stupid. His future marriage would be something that would be very difficult for him considering his wife was hot and he couldn't touch her, and he apparently couldn't touch another woman during the length of their marriage.

Sam couldn't keep his mind off of Mercedes, and he was upset when Noah came into his office bragging about the banging babe that was in the office. "Sam, my man, if you could see this goddess, I tell you she has more curves than a Nissan ad, and all of them are begging for my special touch. I would try every sexual position in the world with her and would still choose doggie style as my favorite because that ass oh that ass what I wouldn't do to tap it. Why did I have to marry Rachel?"

"Probably, because you fell in love with her."

"I know I did love her. But I love beer and I didn't marry it. Our marriage started out great, and now after three kids who keep us busy as hell, she is like 'no Noah I have a headache or my favorite I'm just too tired, I had my weekly hike today.' Rachel is so high maintenance and always tired, and she expects me to do everything for the kids while all she does is sits on ass all day watching Dr. Oz and making us follow the latest health craze. I barely have sex as it is."

Sam just wanted Noah to shut the hell up, but he humored him as always. "Didn't you just tell me that you had sex three or four times last week?"

"You know that Kitty in interior decorating doesn't really count her legs are open for anyone, so having sex with her is like having sex with a bottomless hole and neither does Brittany giving me head twice a week. I don't count oral as sex. Or do you mean Sugar?"

"Sugar, is that the name of the stripper?" Sam asked not believing they were having this conversation even though he had known Noah since college; they had gotten their degrees together, and Sam convinced his father to hire Noah who had years of construction experience as well as having an artistic flair for interior design.

"Who knows Sugar could be a stripper, she wasn't smart enough to be able to have a full time job doing anything else that is for sure. But who cares about these members of the little bitty titty club when a fine, foxy, stacked woman shaped like a Coke bottle is out there. She is in a whole other league. She's dressed in this all black leather outfit that screams dominatrix, and I am like here is your whip spank me, please. She is like a Brick House Barbie, and she is out there talking to your dad right now. Do you think he has hired a new secretary? If so, you better hurry up and knock boots with her before she becomes your new step momma."

Sam knew by Noah's description that he was describing the one and the only Mercedes Jones. What was she doing here besides probably turning every straight male in the office on as well as Brittany? He had no doubts that his secretary would be trying to get in her pants before the day was over to see if she taste like chocolate. What was his father thinking in bringing her here? Even though the office was full of males who didn't listen to R&B music, she would still be recognizable because she was one of the most famous people to have ever lived in Lima, Ohio.

"Sam, I was just showing Mercedes around the office. Her dad and I decided to take her out to lunch today to cheer her up, and as we were leaving the restaurant I asked her if she wanted to look at the place where you and I both worked since it's not that far from her home."

"Hi Sam," Mercedes greeted him trying to ignore the way he eyes swept over her body. He had just seen her this morning, and he was acting like this was the first time he had seen her all day Mercedes thought as she stepped inside Sam's office.

As soon as she was fully in the office, Noah got up and stood as close to her as socially acceptable and introduced himself to her. The smile disappeared from Mercedes' face as she tried to maneuver herself to put as much space as possible between them. She knew enough not to be rude and told him that it was nice to meet him.

Unfortunately for Puck he couldn't take a hint and dropped his voice to the tone he would use in a club and asked for her name. Mercedes never liked giving out her name because if people didn't recognize her, then she was able to live her life normally. However once people found out her name, they were usually able to connect her to her singing career. Mercedes evaded the question by looking at Sam and telling him in her sultriest voice, "Sweetie, why didn't you tell me that the Noah you worked with is so sociable and charming?"

She was calling him sweetie in the sexiest voice he had ever heard, and Sam didn't now if he should kiss or spank her for turning him on without any hope of him getting any satisfaction. "Darling, you will have to forgive me when I am with you thoughts about other people just leave my head," Sam said as moved closer to Mercedes to hug her leaving one arm draped across her shoulders. Sam could feel her body melting into his embrace. He turned attention back to Noah and introduced her as Mercedes his fiancée. Now it was Noah who was suddenly wearing a shocked open mouth expression.

"I can't believe that you are getting married. Mr. I will never settle down has finally been taken off of the market. I can see why you waited you lucky dog." Noah couldn't help but take one more salacious look at Mercedes before turning around an offering his hand to Sam to shake in congratulations.

Sam didn't want to remove his hands from Mercedes, but he do so reluctantly accepting Noah's hand in his own as they did their version of their bro handshake.

Mercedes focused all of her attention on Sam intentionally dismissing Noah by keeping her eyes on Sam alone. After he finished shaking hands with Noah, Mercedes met Sam's gaze and then placed her hand on his chest. "Sweetie, please don't forget that Mike and Tina are coming by tonight for our barbecue around six."

Sam's brain went south when he felt the touch of her hand on his body through his clothes. Even though she was in high heels, the top of her head barely reached his shoulders. He felt so protective of her. "Don't worry honey I promise to be on time. Just make sure my dad doesn't keep you here to long, you know how he is."

"Don't you worry about Mercedes, she is in good hands. I would never let anything happen to my future daughter in law even though she is trying to convince me to take her to a site we are working on. I told her she couldn't wear those heels on a construction site, but I know she would look cute as a button in a construction hat." Dwight said as he waited for Mercedes to leave Sam's office.

As soon as Mercedes lifted her hand from his chest and stepped away, Sam wanted to pull her back because he now craved her touch as she walked with his dad towards the door. Mercedes said her goodbyes, and Sam realized it was going to be an exasperating year and half.

As soon as she left the office he heard Noah saying, "You are marrying the Brick House Barbie! I can't believe this."

Sam realized that Mercedes did everything right to convince Noah that they were a couple; she had truly covered for him when he was at a loss. He could get used to her calling him pet names, none of his other girlfriends had ever called him 'Sweetie' it was unbelievable mushy but when she said it in her deep seductive voice the word went all through him. He had to pay attention to Noah before he further convinced his friend that he was a lovesick fool with his actions. "I most certainly am marrying her, and if you know what is good for you, you will never refer to my future wife as Brick House Barbie again. If I hear you referring to any part of her anatomy, I will kick your ass first, and then kick you in the face, making you sure that you will swallow all of your teeth. Now leave me alone, I have a ton of work to do since I have plans for the evening.

* * *

"Thanks Tina for convincing me to have lunch with my dad and Mr. Dwight. They both apologized for their wives' behavior, and I apologized to them for getting upset and being disrespectful. My parents didn't rear me up to be a ratchet hot mess. However, they were both so charming that I didn't feel any guilt at all. My dad treated me like I was his princess again, and when Dad had to go back to work, Mr. Dwight took me to his job to show me where he worked, what he did, and of course we ran into Sam and his wretched friend Noah Puckerman." Mercedes discussed her afternoon with Tina while the two of them prepared the barbecue.

"I knew that going out with the two of them would be just what the doctor ordered. I could tell by Mr. Evans' face last night that he didn't approve of his wife or your mom's behavior, but he was obviously smart enough to stay out of it. And your poor dad was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was angry with the both of you, and he could publicly correct you without rancor but correcting his wife would have resulted with him probably sleeping on the couch."

"You are so smart and wise as always. Why am I not in the least bit surprised? You could read them like you have always read me."

Tina looked her best friend in the eyes, and said "I also know something else is bothering you. So, tell me what's up with you besides being forced into an arranged marriage and dealing with your normal mama drama?"

Mercedes didn't know where to begin so she just poured out her feelings regarding Sam. "Sam Evans is driving me up the wall. You and I know it's been forever since I've dated or even been interested in a guy. After I became famous most guys wanted to date the superstar and not the person."

"Well that explains why no man has gone out more than twice with you. I don't think you have been in relationship since that loser who went by the name of Rank," after hearing Mercedes wanting to interrupt, Tina continued with, "Oh, please excuse me, he wanted to be called Tank. After your relationship with him failed, you began to devote yourself to your music career and then charities. And later when you had gotten over him, I was diagnosed with breast cancer, and then you completely stopped going out on dates at all."

"Tina, I couldn't bear to see you sick and fighting cancer, and even though I knew Mike was with you, Mike was not himself. I am positive if you would have died, then he would have died of grief along with you because he loved you so much. You were scared, Mike was scared, and I was scared as well. I could understand Mike's pain because even though I don't have romantic love for you, I love you like a sister, and I can't imagine my life without you in it. You know my parents; I need you and will always need you in my life because you love me unconditionally." Mercedes had to struggle to hold back her tears. She withheld her tears from Tina throughout her friend's battle with cancer. Tina and Mike thought she was being strong and optimistic, but her mother had ingrained in her that tears were for the weak, and that Mercedes Marcia Jones was a strong black woman.

Tina, on the other hand, was one who would cry at the drop of a hat. Tears were rolling down her face as she remembered her illness. "I can't believe that you gave up so much for me. You cancelled tours, appearances, and put back your album's release date, so you could spend time with me. You moved back to Lima a place you said you would never come back to because you didn't want to be near your mama. You did it all for me."

"I had no choice Tina. At the time Mike was a ball of emotion, and your mom dealt with your illness by turning to alcohol to numb her pain while your dad was so stoic. I knew you needed me, and there was no place that I would rather be than with you during that time."

"That's my mom and dad. She is the eternal optimist and he is the eternal pessimist. When she found out the cancer was stage four and that she would more than likely lose me she was so supportive until my dad having already given up and all but buried me convinced her to accept my death. She really couldn't cope, so she just turned to alcohol and continued to drink out of guilt for not being there for me."

"Well, I used to be jealous of your mom and your relationship with her until your cancer diagnosis. I don't even think that the doctor thought you were going to survive because you were so petite and frail. I was so terrified that every phone call I would get would be someone telling me that you had died. You truly inspired me to never lose hope and write songs about how even in the darkest hour there is a light, and we must hold on and keep the faith and never let go. And look at you now. You are married to the love of your life and you are in complete remission, so I have nothing to be upset about."

"Mercedes you can try to redirect the conversation as much as you like, but you are still not telling me what is wrong and has placed those bags under your eyes indicating that you are not getting proper sleep. Please don't shut me out."

"It's my feelings for Sam; I don't know if I am going to be able to fight off my attraction towards him."

"Girl is that all. I think any female over the age of 12 who is straight forget that some even batting for the other team would be attracted to your husband, even though I am happily married, I still think he is hot." Tina said laughing at Mercedes as she began to chop of the vegetables for the salad.

"Tina, I mean more than like him physically, he is beginning to turn me on emotionally, too. His mom and my mom are so similar and our dads are similar, too. I'm about to be his wife in name only, and I am seriously doubting my ability to keep my hands off of that body. I made a mistake and touched is chest today, and I swear he has a minimum of a six pack and that smile of his; those lips make me imagine all the ways he can use them to give me pleasure. And did I mention those arms and those big hands. You know when he hugged me today, I could tell that big hands, big feet, also equal big d! How in the hell and I am going to go through a year and half of marriage and not climb that man like a tree?"

"Mercedes, I don't know what to tell you, but I think you are worrying too much. We are not promised tomorrow, so it's best to just focus on today and its concerns." Tina tried to give her friend good advice seeing how conflicted she was. Tina really wanted to tell Mercedes to forget the annulment and work out her sexual frustration on Sam, but she knew her friend wanted to save herself for marriage and that was the reason she and Tank broke up, and if Sam wasn't her happily ever after, she would feel awful giving up her virginity to a man that she was only married to for a year and a half.

"Look at me Tee! After talking to my dad and Mr. Dwight I have decided to pretend to have a "real" marriage so that our mothers are not embarrassed. I am standing in my kitchen dressed like, cooking like, and being neurotic like a black Martha Stewart all to impress some guy that has to marry me anyway. I am wearing make-up for two days in a row look I even have eyeliner on."

Tina turned around and saw Sam and Mike approaching, and she tried to interrupt Mercedes, but Mercedes continued on, I have on an outfit my mother bought me for the summer we spent in the Hamptons. I have over 30 freaking recipes for salad that range from casual to haute cuisine, and I am wondering which salad would go best with steak. What if Sam hates everything that I am preparing?"

Tina finally had a chance to enter the conversation. "I really think that you should change the subject,"

"Hell to the no, Tee! You were the one saying I needed to talk and now I am spilling my tea. You wanted me to confess why I have been tossing and turning and not getting sleep, and it is all because I am so stupid to be attracted to my future husband; someone who I hated on sight. Now I am worried about whether or not he has food allergies, and if my cooking will kill him, then Judge Washington would use this as an excuse to say I was avoiding marriage to him and have me convicted for murder one."

"Mercedes! Shut up the hell up! I mean it stop talking."

"Tina what is your problem you act as if Sam is standing behind me. Oh rub a duck; he is standing right behind me isn't he?"

"Honey, I am home." Sam said, and Mercedes wish she could melt and disappear through the vent on the floor.

"How the hell did you get in?" Mercedes asked him thinking it would be rude for him to just walk up in her home even if he would be moving his belongings into two of the rooms that very weekend.

"Sam called me to come over his place and put some boxes that he will be moving over here that he didn't want the professional movers to be responsible for. He needed my SUV as well as he car to bring them over with his clothes, so that is why we both arrived at the same time, and I figured I would show Sam where you keep your spare key which I am assuming you need to go ahead and give to him and make another copy of. I figured you and Tina would be so busy with food preparation that you wouldn't mind if we came on in."

Mercedes looked at Mike as if he had lost his ever loving mind and mouthed really to Tina who could have interrupted at any time to let her know that Sam was listening to every freaking thing she was saying. Mike saw the look that Mercedes was giving to him and his wife, so he decided to play it safe and leave the room before she went off on the both of them, "Babe why don't you help me unload the boxes that are in the SUV?" Mike said as Tina quickly agreed and left Mercedes alone with Sam.

"Mercedes you have never been this quiet for this long are you okay?" Sam asked noticing that she was avoiding his eyes and not looking in his direction in general. When she shook her head indicating she wasn't, Sam couldn't stop himself from drawing her into his body into a hug. He missed her scent, the feel of her hair underneath his chin, and the feel of her curves close to his body. "You don't have to worry about me the only thing that I am allergic to is shellfish, so steak and salads are fine." He tried to distract the both of them, but he could feel the sparks that they generated whenever they were close to one another and it was feeling that he was reluctant to let go even though he knew he would have to end the hug.

"Would you like something to drink?" She asked and when Sam nodded, she told him where the beer was. "Did you know that other than Mike, you are the only person that I know who drinks beer?"

"I also drink scotch, bourbon, and have been known to sip on a little whiskey, too."

"I just think that this entire situation is so weird. We are marrying each other in less than three days, yet we really don't know much about each other." Mercedes said as she resumed chopping the vegetables for the salad.

Sam had stepped over to the fridge to get the beer and while he was walking he couldn't help but noticed how her hair was beginning to curl again and it was swept back with a headband allowing him to see her beautiful eyes. Sam wanted to stop gazing at her, but after hearing her confession about wanting him as well the only thought that was going through his mind was how in the world he was going to keep himself from trying to seduce this sexy woman. He had to get his hormones under control and while he was trying to do so, he couldn't help but reveal to her that he'd wish they had met under different circumstances.

"I wish we would have too." Mercedes said concentrating on the salad because she could get lost in the intensity of his green eyes.

"Do you want to know a secret?" He said wanting to tease her and bring a smile to her face. After she nodded that she did want to know, Sam couldn't stop grinning and told Mercedes, "I am seriously attracted to you to as well." And when Mercedes gave him an answering smile, he felt as if all the air was sucked out of the room. Her smile truly made her beauty luminescent. Sam realized that by temporarily marrying a woman that could rob him of his breath may not be his wisest decision. Instead of telling her this, he tried to reassure himself by saying, "As far as this mutual attraction that we have going on between us, we will both be okay as long as we don't act on it."

"We won't be able to get our annulment if we do, and I believe that we can handle our attraction now that we are actually getting along with each other. The only thing that that makes me wonder about your sanity now is your taste in friends. I don't know how much of Noah Puckerman that I will be able to tolerate if you plan on spending as much time with him as I spend with Tina and Mike."

"You mean the famous Puckerman charm didn't make you want to risk going to jail for 30 days so you could get with him?" Sam asked pulling her chain. He could tell how Mercedes tried to distance herself from Noah that she was definitely not feeling him.

"Hell to the no Sam, I would prefer if I had to be in his presence, that it will be for as little time as possible."

"Well, he is a college friend, and we will be expected to entertain him and his wife when it comes to company dinners with my family, but as for us doing what we do with the Changs, you don't have to worry about us doing it with the Puckermans. They have three children and believe me I try to avoid going over their house as much as possible."

"I will just do my best to keep my distance from him when we have to be around him. Taste this piece of steak for me. I used a homemade marinade, and I want your honest opinion before serving it to you all for dinner." Mercedes cut him a tiny portion of the steak and placed the meat on the fork so he could taste it.

"Wow, that is the most succulent and flavorful piece of steak that I have had off the grill in my life. Are you a professional chef as well?" Sam asked ready to eat his meal and get far away from Mercedes as possible. Her smell made her just as appetizing as the food. She was almost the perfect woman: brilliant, beautiful, sassy, and could cook. He tried to spend the rest of the evening without focusing on her and instead enjoying the barbecue with her friends who were quickly becoming his close friends as well.

* * *

On Sunday Mercedes had been on pins and needles waiting for Sam to pick her up to join him for his family's Sunday dinner. The barbecue had been a success, and they had emptied the boxes that Mike and Tina had brought into the house earlier as well as retrieved and unpacked the luggage that Sam had in the car. Tina, Mike, and Sam had left after midnight which prompted Mercedes to sleep late that morning.

Now she was walking hand in hand with Sam up the drive of his parent's home. The pins and needles feeling hadn't left but seem to increase the closer they got to his house.

Sam could feel Mercedes' nervous energy, so he tried to calm her by reminding her that it was only Sunday dinner with his parents and siblings and that she would be okay. He saw her fidgeting with her dress and told her she looked beautiful which she did in a short royal blue dress and killer heels. Sam could think of all the things he wanted to do to her while she was wearing those heels, but cleared his throat when Mercedes mentioned all the cars that were parked along the street.

"Somebody must be throwing a party." Mercedes guessed thinking it was unusual for people to throw parties on Sunday afternoons.

"Well, I thank God, that my parents are sticklers for our family dinner tradition, so I know that we aren't going to have to go to their neighbor's party."

Mercedes noticed her father's vehicle and the two others parked on the driveway. "Whose cars are the other two vehicles that are parked by my dad's car?"

"Oh, that is my brother Stevie's car and the car that my dad recently bought my sister Stacie for her 17th birthday." As the neared the front door, Sam put his arm around her waist, and the tingles he felt when he held her hand multiplied.

Mercedes knew her butterflies and nervousness was a result from the last meal she shared with their parents. "I am just hoping and praying that this dinner will not be as horrible as the first dinner we all shared together at Tina and Mike's." She had been avoiding her mother successfully since the dinner, and this would be the first time they would be face to face since that disastrous night.

"Just think on the bright side, I don't think there is any possibility of it being any worse, and this time we are not battling each other. We are a unified team, and the only problem that I think we will have is my little brother." Sam admitted as they approached the front door.

"A team I like that idea. I will have your back and you will have mind. Why would your brother be a problem?"

"Yep, Team Samcedes those mothers of ours don't stand a chance. Stevie will be a problem because the first thing I bet he is going to do when he meets you is hit on you."

"Sam didn't you tell me that Stevie is just 19, I am over a decade older than him, and I'm your fiancée. I doubt he will be that bold to flirt with me in your face."

"Mercedes, according to my mother, Evans' men come out of the womb flirting. You have even said how charming you find my father. Well, my brother is at the time in his life that he has more hormones than common sense, and when he sees you that body that God broke the mold of once He made you because I have yet to see anyone as sexy, he will be unable to stop flirting with you for the entire evening. Just don't smile and tell him he's cute, or you will have to deal with him dogging you throughout our marriage."

"Thanks Sam," Mercedes said sarcastically. "Now I don't only have to worry about our mothers, but I also have to watch out for your brother who may or may not become my stalker."

"Now that our mothers have an audience of my siblings, I assure you they will be on their best behavior because I don't think they have told them that we're being court ordered to marry, and my brother is harmless; he won't stalk you just flirt with you every chance he gets. I am sure both our dads and yours truly will be able to keep him in check."

As soon as Sam rang the doorbell, his mother rushed to open door smiling as if she was the happiest woman in the world. "Oh Sam and Mercedes come in. Mercedes I simply adore that dress. You are beautiful as always."

Mercedes was shocked to see this version of Mary Evans. So, she accepted the compliment with a thank you and followed Sam into the grand foyer that had double staircases on both sides similar to her parents' home except their double staircase extended from the great room not the foyer.

As they went into the home, Mercedes was shocked to be greeted by her own mother who called out their names and hugged Mercedes before asking, "How are my beautiful baby girl and handsome future son-in-law doing today?"

Mercedes didn't know how to answer her mom. She felt that either she was dreaming or that she had stepped into the twilight zone. Sam, appearing to be not the least bit shocked by their behavior, replied that they were doing fine and asked how Mrs. Jones was doing as well. Her mother was interrupted by Mary who grabbed Sam's arm and ushered all four of them through the house saying that everyone was waiting for them.

Sam unable to remain optimistic had to question his mother, "By everyone you mean only our families right?"

"Uh no not exactly Sam we sort of meant it by saying that you two were going to have to pretend that this marriage was for real, and in order to do this, Melanie and I…"

Before they could step towards the end of the foyer and before Mary could finish talking a great many people shouted "Surprise!" causing Mercedes to stumble back in shock, and Sam had to react quickly to catch her from slipping on the hardwood floors with her heels. "Oh, hell to the no." she whispered as she felt Sam's arm around her waist.

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked the moms, and Mercedes' mother laughed at him.

"This is your engagement party silly. Mary and I know you both didn't want us to make a big deal because of how much Mercedes values her privacy and doesn't want the media to know her personal business, but we just couldn't go without having a small party with a hundred of our closest friends and a couple of your friends." Melanie explained as hugged Sam then Mercedes again.

Mary congratulated the kids on their engagement and then left the two, so they could mingle hurrying away from them before Sam's loose lips could say anything and before Mercedes could explode in anger. Mercedes told Sam that she could kill their mothers before she spotted and waved to Mike and Tina.

Sam promised to help Mercedes hide their bodies, before telling her if they decide to commit the crime that night that she would have to change her shoes. This caused Mercedes to remember her almost fall from earlier and caused her to laugh. While they were laughing a camera flash went off, and Mercedes knew without a doubt the press was there, and they would have to put on a show as a loving couple. "Okay Sweetie lets go interact with a couple of our friends while avoiding the hundred of our mothers' closest acquaintances." Sam agreed and steered her towards Mike and Tina.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but some of the twisted elements of this story thanks to _Glee_ and _Tickled Pink_ I don't have to strain my brain too much in this Samcedes adaption. BTW I don't hate any of the characters on Glee. I just used some elements of their Glee characterization for my work. On Glee Noah was a man whore and Quinn slept with her boyfriend's best friend. Those are the facts, and I love Mark Salling's and Dianna Agron's body of work on the show, and that they gave us multifaceted characters who make TV drama and sometimes fanfictions tawdry like my mother's soaps were back in the day.

Chapter Four

Sam wished that he was dreaming. As soon as he arrived to his family's home and heard his mother's greeting, he should have been convinced that she had either become a Stepford Wife or had been body snatched. Being ambushed by a happy Mrs. Jones further proved his theory on body snatching, but he should have put two and two together. The cars, his mother's happiness to see him and Mercedes, Mercedes' mom hugging her and being nice to him all added up to this surprise engagement party. Sam looked around the room and was shocked that she had forgone a family tradition of Sunday dinners to host a party on the Lord's day of rest as she had called it all those years when he wanted to play sports or do something order than attend church and Sunday supper with his mom, dad, and later on his siblings.

The only thing that he liked about the party was that he got to play loving fiancé to Mercedes. He didn't know if it was possible for her not to look gorgeous, and when his mother spoke about her beauty, he felt as if she was surprised. The more he observed her the more he realized that she wasn't as vain as the other women he had dated. Sure she was just as beautiful and even more sexier, but she had the attitude that she wasn't hung up on her looks. After overhearing her tell Tina that she was wearing make-up for him made him realized that he had never seen his former girlfriends or mother go a day without wearing make-up. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't notice that she was leaving his side and headed towards Mike and Tina with a look on her face that said she had an axe to grind. He quickly began to walk in her direction but was waylaid but no other than Noah Puckerman.

"Sam my man this in an incredible shindig with your parents throwing a party on a Sunday and with the rumors that I am hearing that you are getting married very soon, I can't help but be suspicious. Dude, what is going on?"

Sam really wasn't in the mood with dealing Noah today, but he had to try to convince his friend that there was not anything suspicious about his upcoming marriage to Mercedes. "There is nothing going on besides our parents deciding to surprise us by celebrating our engagement with this party."

Noah smirked and shrugged as he lifted his drink. "I just figured that this catered affair with wine, the media, and the secrecy behind your engagement is obviously a cover up for something. Did you knock up Judge Jones' superstar daughter and are now being forced to marry her? Come on man give me the details, she is not even wearing an engagement ring, and no notice has been sent to the paper. Something isn't right here."

Sam took a drink from a waiter who had just walked by him. He needed time to think of a reply, and he didn't know what to say. Why hadn't his mother or her mother thought of a freaking engagement ring? They were the ones pushing him and Mercedes to pretend that this was a love match, and he realized there was nothing he could say to convince Noah that he wasn't right.

Mercedes, who was not too far away from Sam, when she began to overhear their conversation, almost wished she didn't have to go over there and rescue Sam. However, it was obvious from the look of panic that she saw in Sam's eyes that he needed her to bail him out. Noah had a big mouth, and Mercedes didn't need the press to overhear his conversation with Sam, so she came up to Sam got on her tippy toes and kissed his cheek and pretended to be happy to see Noah.

"Sweetie, Tina and Mike were wondering if you were going to bring Noah over to introduce him to them," she said including the jerk that she wouldn't even take the time to shake his hand or look him in the eye to acknowledge his presence.

"Mercedes, I was just having some bro time with my friend and just telling him that it was odd that he hasn't given you an engagement ring, I hope that means he is not thinking of ending his engagement with you like he did with Quinn. You know he gave her his grandmother's ring, and she refused to give it back to him. Mary had to sue her to get the ring back. Quinn was a lot like Mary in looks and temperament though she sure gave your mom a run for her money." Noah began his spiel targeting Mercedes and ended it by targeting Sam before returning his gaze back on Mercedes.

"Since then Sam has been changing girlfriends, the way my wife changes baby diapers. I hope this doesn't mean he's not counting on this engagement to last long." Noah wanted to raise doubt in Mercedes' mind. He didn't think that Sam deserved Mercedes, and as long as she only had eyes for Sam, he would never get a chance to tap that ass that he had been dreaming of since he met her. This was not the first time he fell for a girl who was engaged to Sam. In fact he was the reason why Sam and Quinn broke up, but Sam didn't know that. He and Quinn were having an affair behind Sam's back. And Sam found out about Quinn's infidelity when she and Sam were at her first doctor's visit, once the doctor mentioned the future delivery date then and only then did she confess to Sam that the child wasn't his because the timing of her conception was when Sam had been on a two month publicity tour with his first comic book, and he couldn't have possibly fathered the child. Quinn later aborted the baby in a bid to get Sam back. She never told Sam who the father was instead she kept lying to him saying it was just a one time drunken mistake.

Mercedes' suspicions concerning Noah Puckerman were right. He was not a true friend of Sam only an opportunistic swine with more testosterone than common decency. "Oh, believe me Mary tried to insist Sam give me that ring which is beautiful but has nickel in it like most engagement rings that we looked at here in little old Lima, and I am unfortunately severely allergic to nickel, so Sam has had to have the perfect hypoallergenic ring designed for me, and we are going to pick it up when we go to Vegas tomorrow."

The expression that crossed Noah's face was unbelievable. "You two are going to Vegas tomorrow? Wow."

"Yes we are, and I can't wait to spend some private time with my fiancée. Unfortunately our moms will kill us if we stay in one place for too long. We need to mingle some more." Sam said realizing just how toxic his relationship was with Noah. Noah bringing up Quinn and the ring was not something a real friend did at an engagement party. Sam was so not willing to subject Mike and Tina to his presence, a presence his fiancée could barely tolerate as is, so he walked them to the other side of the great room to put as much distance between them and Noah as possible.

Mercedes whispered in Sam's ear as they walked, "I know a jewelry designer in Vegas who always wants me to wear his designs when I am on the red carpet. I will call him up and ask if he will be willing to let me wear one of his designs as a favor. We shouldn't have to invest money in a costly ring for appearances sake. Plus the publicity that I will give him for wearing his design should more than make up for the cost of borrowing it for eighteen months. We also can purchase our wedding bands from him to sweeten the deal. I will call him tonight to let him know we will be stopping by one of his stores some time tomorrow."

Before the couple could make it completely across the room, they were stopped by Sam's seventeen year old sister and one of her best friends. "Well, Sam, how long was it going to take you to introduce me to the woman you are about to marry? I am thinking if you could have gotten away with it, you would have postponed the introductions until after you two had been married for what a couple of years?" Stacie Evans was curious about her future sister-in-law because her horrid mother couldn't stop singing Mercedes' praises which made Stacie wonder what kind of magic did her brother's future wife possess to have both her parents like her and make her brother stop his man whoring ways to commit to her.

Sam noticed the curious gazes of his sister and her friend Andrea. "Stacie and Andrea, this is Mercedes, and darling this is my baby sister, Stacie with the runaway tongue and her best friend Andrea."

Stacie smiled and stepped forward and Mercedes shook both girls' hands. Andrea only wanted to come to the party because she was a big Mercedes Jones' fan, and right now her friend was so star struck that she couldn't say a word only look at Mercedes with hero worship in her eyes after Mercedes told both girls it was a pleasure to meet them.

"It's nice to finally meet you." Stacie replied nudging Andrea who still was unable to speak.

Mercedes noticed that Stacie's friend was looking at her the way many of her younger fans would when they met her for the first time, so she offered the girl a friendly smile and complimented her red bottom shoes.

"Mercedes Jones is talking to me and complimenting my shoes; I could die right now here and be at peace." Andrea said placing her hand over mouth when she realized what she said out loud. Stacie and Sam couldn't stop themselves from laughing, but Mercedes felt a tug of sympathy for the girl knowing that her age she would have acted the same way towards Whitney or Mariah.

"Well Andrea those shoes are pretty sweet; I am going to take a wild guess and say that you like my music." Mercedes addressed the girl causing the girl to smile over her embarrassment.

"Stacie and I love your music. Sometimes high school can be so petty and we have drama always going around about who likes who, who dresses better, and who is or is not in the in crowd. When we are having bad days, we put on your music and sing it at the top of our lungs." Andrea couldn't stop gushing to save her life and Stacie finally rescued her friend from her verbal diarrhea.

"Yes, that is why I am so mad that my brother hasn't introduced us to now. I am one of your biggest fans, and Andrea and I are a part of the Mercedes Militia. We even have our own fan website on Tumblr about our appreciation towards your artistry. A lot people can sing a song, but you write songs and sing them with such real emotion that we couldn't not support your career."

"Well your brother is not a big fan of my music. You do know that your brother's love of 80s rap music makes me irrelevant to him as an artist, so I think that is why he hadn't considered the fact that you would be a fan."

Stacie smiled when Mercedes mentioned Sam's questionable taste in music. "You know about him blasting that horrible music from his speakers. I hate it when he used to have to pick me up from school, and he would be playing that music. I bet I was the only five year old who knew the words to all the Beastie Boys' songs."

"So, you are telling me he has been listening to the same music for decades, and I thought it was just a childhood nostalgic kick. Baby we are going to have to get you to broaden your musical taste." Mercedes looked at Stacie with a look of camaraderie and was glad she wasn't the only one who found Sam's habit of blasting rap music from his car irritating as heck.

Stacie was talking to Mercedes more than any woman he had ever dated, and Sam was totally surprised. Stacie normally hated all of the women that he brought to events that his mother forced him to attend. She tried to stay as far away from his dates as possible, but now she was monopolizing Mercedes and was ganging up on him with his fiancée. "Now I am not going to let you two start thinking that you can gang up on me and change my taste in music." Sam said and was shocked to hear Stacie's and her friend's next request.

"Sam will you please take a picture of Mercedes with Andrea and me. We are going to post to this our site as soon as possible." Stacie asked giving Sam her phone that in the past Sam had never been allowed to breathe upon nevertheless touch. He took the picture after telling her, "of course."

After he had snapped the picture, Stacie and Andrea snatched the phone to make sure that the picture was on point. "Okay, now Sam you stand by Mercedes, I want to get a picture of the two of you to prove to the know-it-alls in my class that you are indeed marrying Mercedes, and she is going to be my sister-in-law."

Mercedes was shocked at Stacie's acceptance of her in Sam's life which she knew probably had more to do with her singing career than personality, but she had a feeling that the young girl and her would become good friends. "Stacie, I look forward to getting to know you better thanks for welcoming into your family." Mercedes accepted the young girl's hug and told the youngest Evans this after Stacie had invited Mercedes to a girl's night of popcorn, candy, and movies.

Stacie Evans was inviting a female associated with him over for a night of movies and fun, and Mercedes was accepting the invitation. Sam's mind was befuddled. Had his mother put something in the drinks or was his sister actually being nice to a female other than her friends, which Sam hadn't witnessed since she turned 13?

There was no doubt about the fact that Stacie Evans liked Mercedes because the words she uttered next left Sam astounded. "Mercedes I know that you two have to mingle or mom will literally have a cow which would be quiet amusing, but I rather you leave here tonight with a good impression of the family so avoid mother and Stevie if he's still here at all cost. Unfortunately you are stuck with Sam, but that works out for my good because I get to have another sane female in the family finally."

"Stacie you really are a breath of fresh air. When we get back from Vegas, I will call you to finalize our plans." Mercedes told the girl and said goodbye to Andrea as well as; the two girls could be overheard saying they were ditching the boring party and were going to go upstairs to Stacie's room, upload the pictures, and inform the Mafia that Mercedes Jones was the real deal and not a phony snob.

Sam was so busy wondering where his brother had gone or was going off to that he hadn't realized that Mercedes had turned towards him to ask him a question. His focus immediately shifted to the woman in front of him after she placed her hand on his chest. It seemed that was going to be her thing with when they were in public.

"How in the world did that happened? Stacie has barely said five words to any woman that I have brought home. In fact, Stevie and she used to torment Quinn relentlessly that she nicknamed the two the Children of the Corn," Sam said trying to distract himself from reacting to her touch and her curves being so close to his body and the sparks that flew from the feel of her touch on him.

"I don't know. You had me worried about Stevie so much that I hadn't asked you anything about your sister. I will have to tell your dad I am sorry because she is now my favorite Evans." Mercedes teased Sam batting her doe eyes up at him.

Sam bent his head to whisper in her ear, "So, I guess that puts me in third place, and I thought we were Team Samcedes looks like I have been thrown over by the Mercedes Militia." Sam teased back looking at her face. Who would imagine that because of a softball crashing through a window he would be standing here engaged to this charismatic, charming, and curvy woman who was tempting him to kiss her succulent lips as she ran her tongue lightly against them not taking her eyes off of his.

"Darling, we need to mingle." He told her before he lost all self-control.

"Why?" Mercedes asked him looking as if she didn't want to be anywhere else but right there with him.

"Because if we continue to stand like this I'm going to kiss you, and it would not be a socially accepted kiss that one expects at an engagement party; it will be a kiss that will let everyone know that as I make love you to your lips that I want to do the same thing to your body." As Sam explained why they had to mingle, he looked in Mercedes' eyes and saw an answering heat to the flame that burned in his own eyes.

Mercedes wanted to say something but couldn't. Sam had literally entranced her with his words, and she couldn't stop the intense hunger she now felt in her desire to feel his lips on top of hers, and she couldn't stop imagining how his tongue would feel on both her upper and lower sets of lips. When she felt her panties began to moisten, she shook her head to wake herself out of her trance. Looking up when she felt Sam tug her arm, she mindlessly allowed him to walk her towards Mike and Tina.

* * *

Now a day later, Mercedes was still revisiting everything Sam did and said at the surprise engagement party as she and Sam exited Henderson's executive airport. The entire plane ride to Vegas had been one of almost dead silence with Sam not saying more than good morning to her. Mercedes tried to concentrate on all that she had to accomplish today to distract her from his presence.

Sam's mind was blown as Mercedes had told him that the _Caesars Palace_ Las Vegas Hotel  & Casino had arranged for them to fly in by corporate jet, which Sam had never flown in a billionaire company's private jet before. A driver had picked him up from his condo and then picked up Mercedes, and the Mercedes Jones he was used to seeing on a now daily basis looked completely different. Her face rivaled a model's face with colorful cosmetics, her outfit of black jeggings, a black bustier, and a crop jacket screamed look at me. He could tell that she was in celebrity mode, and he could see how she was in high demand for a Vegas show. The showgirls in Vegas didn't have curves like Mercedes Jones, and he knew all of her concerts would sell out if she was going to be dressing like that on stage. Hell, he would buy a ticket just to see her move and dance around stage forget about going to just appreciate her voice.

When they arrived in Vegas, Sam was shocked that a limo awaited them there to take them straight to the hotel. He couldn't keep silent any longer and asked her if this was another perk of the job, and she told him how everything was covered by the hotel. Once they were driven to her meeting, he was further surprised to hear the concierge say, "Welcome back, Ms. Jones." Mercedes was led to a meeting and he was given the option to go to the casino or use his tablet to conduct his own business in a private conference room. Sam chose the conference room because he didn't know how much free time they would have while in Vegas, and he needed to get some work done so he wouldn't get behind.

Once the meeting was over, Mercedes had booked several shows for the month of the July involving Wednesdays then Saturdays and Sundays for the rest of the month, and she would have to return back to Caesar's in February with a similar schedule. She made sure to only do three days a week and would have to have Sam join her on some of the weekends because her total days of performing would be 18 and she would not want to commute after every performance to make sure they didn't spend too many nights apart.

Sam was surprised to find out that they were not staying in the motel. Mercedes told him they were leaving again and the two had a different driver waiting to take them to where they would be staying so Mercedes could change her outfit, and they could go choose the rings and hopefully a chapel for their wedding tomorrow.

"Roderick, it's always good to see you," Mercedes greeted her driver and part-time bodyguard that her management team loaned out to her. "How are your wife and son?"

"They are doing great Ms. Jones thanks for asking."

"Roderick Meeks, this is my fiancé, Sam Evans," she introduced Sam to the man that he would see regularly if he came to Vegas for some of her shows.

"Congratulations to the both of you." He said as he took their luggage and put it into the waiting vehicle.

They climbed into the limousine, and Sam was back on his iPad, and Mercedes didn't want to interrupt his work. She didn't know why he was being so aloof today. She thought that they were Team Samcedes and finally getting along. She couldn't understand why they weren't talking when they had a million things they needed to discuss if they were getting married tomorrow morning. Sam, however, only put his iPad away when he noticed that they had slowed down and were entering a gated driveway.

After saying goodbye to Roderick, Mercedes unlocked the door to the high-rise luxury condo, and she noticed that it was already after five. They probably would have to save ring shopping and choosing a chapel for the next day. The first thing that Sam commented on was design of the building when he looked around the place and its view from the 14th floor, and Mercedes didn't now how to comment as she showed him around. Sam's gaze was intent on her, and she fought to ignore the tingling feeling that began to travel down her spine. "I'll show you the guest room where you will be sleeping, and you can put your luggage away." Mercedes was not willing to keep dealing with Sam's hot and cold behavior, so she decided to just leave his presence, but she was stopped by Sam when he caught her arm in his grasp.

"What's the matter?" Sam asked her sensing that something was wrong but not knowing what to do with the chill that had entered the air.

"Not a thing." She told him as she removed her arm from his grasp and walked with him into the room that he would be sleeping in that night. She showed him where the towels and extra linen and blankets were. "If you need anything else, let me know." She said as she tried to exit the bedroom that felt smaller with his presence as quickly as she could.

"Mercedes, I can tell that something is wrong. Please tell me what it is?" Sam turned her around and looked her in the eyes.

"Do you really want to know what's wrong? Could it be the surprise engagement party that I had to endure yesterday when I was told it was going to be a quiet family dinner with your parents? Or maybe what's wrong with me is that I am marrying a man this evening who has barely said one hundred words to me all day? But it might very well be the fact that I have had to endure lengthy calls with my management team, label, and agent/publicist which has resulted in me being blamed for them scurrying about cancelling engagements, postponing my album launch till next year, and having no choice but to become a resident Vegas performer so that my band and the other people behind my career have gainful employment and that I stay relevant as an artist."

Sam didn't fully understand the pressure she was under and all that she was giving up for the marriage, and the only thing he could do was apologize. "Mercedes, I am truly sorry." He moved closer to her noticing the tears in her eyes and engulfed her in a hug. "I wasn't aware of the surprise party with a hundred plus people either and if I was in my right mind, I would have turned around and got us out of there and left our mothers to die of embarrassment, but because of you, we were able to make last night a success. I know I shouldn't have agreed to marry you, but your mother seems adamant that we marry, and if we don't she will make sure we go to jail, and I think that will negatively affect your career more than mine. I have also been having problems at work with this one client that I cannot seem to please. I have been accused by him of not devoting my energy to his project, and if I don't somehow find a way to work with him, I will cost my dad millions of dollars. I also have a deadline for my next comic that I don't see how I am going to meet. So, all of these stresses are adding up, and I haven't been communicating with you as I should. I, unlike my parents, am not a workaholic, and usually work doesn't consume me too much, but with all that has been happening this past week..."

"I understand Sam that you have also been negatively affected by our mothers' insanity."

Sam was so happy to hear the chill leave Mercedes' voice. "Do you remember at the barbecue that you asked me how my day was? He saw Mercedes nod her head that she did. "Well, that has been the first time anybody has cared enough about me to ask. I couldn't believe that your concern for me was real."

"We are about to be married and living with each other for eighteen months believe me when I say my concern for you was real. I think it would help us have a happy marriage if we were friends."

"Friends we are then; I think us being friends will help us with our attraction issue." As soon as Sam mentioned their sexual attraction to each other, he could feel something shift between them. He couldn't stop himself from lowering his head down to hers and watching Mercedes as she closed her eyes.

'How could a conversation about being friends turn into a possible steamy make-out session?' was the question that ran through Mercedes' mind as she didn't even try to resist Sam. She could feel his breath on her face and right before his lips could touch hers, the sound of Sam's cell ringtone L.L Cool J's introduction to "I'm Gong Back to Cali" came blaring out of his pocket.

Sam didn't want to answer the phone, but it was his sister's personalized ringtone, so he had to force himself to let Mercedes go so that he could reach into his pocket and grab his phone. The funny thing was he didn't even remember having grabbed Mercedes up in his arms to kiss her in the first place.

Mercedes tried to wrap her brain around what had just happened— or didn't happen and realized they had almost kissed. The startling part— she couldn't ever remember wanting to be kissed like she wanted to be kissed by Sam. This was not good. Not good at all.

Sam couldn't keep the thought of him almost kissing Mercedes out of his mind after his phone call with his sister. He had been trying to figure out where Stevie was, and Stacie had just heard from her brother. He had never attended the engagement party because his band, a couple of fellows he had met in college, had been invited to play at a various summer musical festivals throughout the southeastern part of the United States.

Stacie said their mother had thrown a royal fit, but their dad had made sure that Stevie was given permission to go along with the money that he would need to finance his part of the band's traveling expenses. Stevie was supposed to stay for the engagement dinner, but he had left early when they realized how far away their first venue was. Stevie's car had been at his parents because the boys had to take the biggest vehicle an extended cab Ford F150 to hold all of their equipment. Sam was glad that his brother got the opportunity to pursue this opportunity and didn't begrudge his brother's dipping out of his party. Sam wished that thoughts of his family would consume his mind, but the only thing he could think of the fact was the he had almost kissed Mercedes Jones!

Two hours later, they had ordered Chinese takeout for delivery and had eaten together, but thoughts of the near kiss still inundated his mind. Sitting outside on her balcony, Sam had finally started to relax, but no matter how he tried he couldn't keep kissing her out of his mind. He would probably still be kissing her now, if his sister hadn't of called. Sam tried to enjoy the warm Las Vegas air and figure out why he was so entranced by Mercedes. He barely knew her, and they were getting married and had to live together a whole year and a half before getting the marriage annulled. He knew from experience if he gave in to his desire that kissing Mercedes would lead to sex which would mean they would have to get a divorce something Mercedes told him repeatedly that she didn't want to have, and now he couldn't see why getting a divorce would be so bad.

Finally finished with making arrangements for tomorrow, Mercedes went outside to join Sam on the balcony bringing him a bottle of water. She could tell his mind was riddled with thoughts, so she tried to break him out of his reverie by explaining how she came to own this property in Vegas. "I don't know if you know Sebastian Smythe or have heard of his job with Sony records as the director of the development of new talent before becoming one of its CEOs. When Sebastian and I first met, believe me when I say that it was a mutual hatred at first sight. He said that Sony had to have lost its mind in giving a fatty like me a contract. My manager and publicist at the time Santana Lopez almost punched him in the nose. Well, when "Happy Part Two" came out and I was finally recognized as a star, he wanted to change my contract to extend it to a four record deal. Well I negotiated one of the units that his family owns in my contract. I figured I might as well broaden my portfolio with property because this place keeps appreciating in value, and it is worth more than my residences in both Los Angeles and Lima combined."

He shook his head. "So you are not just an intelligent, compassionate, gorgeous singing talent, but you are also business minded as well. How in the world are you still single?"

"While I was in high school, my mother made sure I was kept too busy to date. In fact, I had to be set up by Tina to even have a date for the prom. She went with this guy named Artie, and I went with his friend Matt. I was so into my studies and doing whatever my mom wanted that I didn't even know that Matt had asked Tina to set me up with him. When I got to college, old habits were hard to break and I dedicated myself to graduating and getting out of law school as quickly as possible. When I finally decided not to become a lawyer, I had some time to date and soon got in a relationship with a guy who didn't take me serious when I said that I wanted to wait to have sex after marriage. So, we ended up breaking up because of this, and I suddenly became famous and had plenty of opportunities to date but these guys wanted to date Mercedes Jones the star not Mercedes the woman. This burnt me out of dating for a while, and I got heavily involved in my charities and my career. Now that I have told you everything, let's turn the table and you tell me why you are still single as well."

Sam didn't know if he should tell her the whole Quinn story or not. He decided not to and skirted the question by admitting that he was not into commitment because he believe in working hard and playing just as hard to have balance in his life.

"I could tell you were no Mr. Commitment from you sister's and Noah's reactions to our engagement."

"Speaking of my sister, I don't know what magic you used in charming her; she is one of the most distant and anti-social people I have ever met. I think it has to do with having Mary Evans as her mother, but I think you should know that mom hasn't told either of my siblings about our sentencing but eventually we are going to tell them truth."

"I must admit that there is some ratchet part of me that actually is a little disappointed that I didn't meet your brother. I really wanted to see if he could live up to the reputation that you and Stacie had given him."

"Mercedes trust me when I say be grateful that your meeting him has been postponed. He is a typical college frat boy flirt, and all he has on his hormone addled brain is sex, food, and music in that exact order."

She nodded and inhaled deeply. "I will take you at your word, but I still feel like I should be ratchet, so do you ever wish we could get back at our moms?"

Sam chuckled and nodded "The first forty-eight hours after the sentencing, I would daydream and imagine about a million ways to do just that." He studied her under the dim candle light on the patio table. She really was stunning and tomorrow, she would officially be his wife.

"Me, too, did you come with any good ideas?"

"I could come up with nothing that would give me a sense of revenge and avoid being sentenced to short of fifteen to life behind bars." He ruefully admitted before asking, "What about you?" Mercedes reluctantly admitted that she had been to upset by the situation and having to deal with disappointing the people who were involved in her career. Sam could see that Mercedes still felt guilty and she shouldn't. None of this was her fault. It was there mothers' fault. He reached out and covered her hand, ignoring the way the simple touch ignited the skin all over his entire body.

Sam wanted to cheer her up, "Maybe I can schedule my visits to comic conventions around possible performances of yours, and that way we can be together and you can fulfill some of your travel obligations. I can give you the dates and places of the conventions, so you won't feel as if you are letting everybody down."

Surprise and another emotion flickered in her dark eyes. "I'd really like that if it was possible. Who knows maybe we can make it work out. I much rather we focus on getting back at the two responsible for this situation." Mercedes admitted.

"How about we spend the rest of the night coming up with plans and implementing them while we are still here in Vegas?"

Sam's suggestion caused Mercedes to smile, and she tried to think of something that they could do when she remembered the other night at Mike and Tina's. "The other night, at Mike and Tina's, Tina joked when I commented how this was like an arranged marriage and she said I should be grateful my father didn't seal the deal with livestock."

"I can imagine my mom's reaction to sheep and pigs showing up at the house. I really like Tina's sense of humor; she seems to be a really good friend."

"She and Mike are actually my best friends. It's hard to judge friendships when you become famous. However, Tina was my childhood friend and Mike was my law school buddy, and they have stood by me. I'm just relieved that you get along with them both."

"Well they appear to be good people. I was thinking what if the animals showed up in your mother's courtroom instead of my mother's house kind of like a reverse dowry."

"That is an excellent idea! She will have a cow and that will be fitting since the courtroom will in fact be an indoor farm. You are truly diabolical in a good way."

Sam pretended the dust his back before mean mugging and saying, "I have my days." This caused Mercedes to laugh, and Sam couldn't help noticing the fullness of her mouth or how her lips were just downright kissable. Not that he dared to go there, but he certainly could imagine. "So, that would cover your mom because I have a client whose brother owns a petting zoo who can help us on that. "What about my mother?"

Mercedes shook her head thinking about how religious Sam mom appeared to be. "I don't know; something equally as disturbing. I know in Biblical times a man bought his bride with gold and silver. Only it would get expensive and cost us way too much to get enough of it to be disturbing to be our reversal of the bride price."

Sam thought for a moment and despite the stress of the last few days, losing his singlehood for the next year, he was actually enjoying spending time with Mercedes. At first, he'd thought her a sexy hot mess for throwing the softball through his window, but the more he got to knew her, he realized she was more than a hot body. Sam thought of Noah's reaction to her and oddly enough, it still bothered him that his colleague and friend looked at her as a piece of ass. A light went on his head as he remembered Noah's son, Johnny, had had a Pirate themed birthday party last year. "If we used those coins for our gold and silver, we could get thousands of them for hardly anything."

"I do know an event planner that might be able to get us a bountiful amount."

"Bountiful. Nice word play. Yeah, let's get an ample amount that it will fill her office."

"I'll call Kurt in the morning." Mercedes said laughing at their mothers' probable reactions.

"A toast to our first step in getting revenge," Sam smiled at her and lifted his water bottle.

Mercedes smiled and said, "One that won't result in us serving an additional sentence."

Sam burst out laughing looking at his pretty and witty wife-to-be out of the corner of his eyes. He thought to himself maybe just maybe their current sentence wouldn't be as bad as he previously imagined it would be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I give credit to the writers of _Glee_ and _Tickled Pink_ and readers and reviewers who give me things to put in the story to help with continuity. I just realized this is the first story I posted on ff in a year, but I have been writing it has just been posted on Tumblr instead which is easier for me to post and edit. **

* * *

Chapter Five

Mercedes woke up, showered, dressed, and went into her kitchen only to find Sam already there drinking coffee and reading a newspaper. She had to rub her hands over eyes to acknowledge that she wasn't dreaming. Where he got a paper from was a question that she couldn't fathom the answer to. Also, the man was just too handsome for words, and if she was going to spend the next eighteen months being greeted by his handsome mug, then it would make their marriage sentence somewhat bearable. As she walked further into the kitchen, she said his name and good morning which caused him to look up from his paper.

Mercedes' voice didn't startle him, he had heard her footsteps, but when he glanced up from his paper and saw that she was wearing shorts, fishnet pantyhose, a sleeveless army green jacket, and her hair up in high ponytail, he couldn't help but appreciate her sex appeal. As soon as his eyes made it up to her lips and finally her big brown eyes, he couldn't keep the smile off his face as he told her good morning and then asked how she was doing.

Mercedes tried to answer Sam's question without acknowledging that the temperature in the room had to have shot up twenty degrees because the heat from his gaze alone had her almost breaking out in a sweat. When she finally collected herself, she was able to respond that she was doing fine. She also told him, "I noticed that you have made yourself at home. Did you go downstairs to get a paper? You know I have wireless and you could have used my desktop or your iPad to read the news online."

"Well, I start out every morning with a jog; it's the only time of day that I can get my exercise in. As I was leaving to go out on my jog, I asked and was told that you all had a coffee shop that sold papers, so I picked up a paper when I came back in from buying breakfast. I hope you don't mind that I used your key card to let myself out and in."

"I am glad that you noticed where I put it yesterday, and I am more than okay with you making this place your home. When we come here for my shows, this will be our home away from home, and it would help if you were familiar with everything. Are you ready to go ring shopping and pick a chapel for our wedding?"

"Are you going to change first or do you want to bring your gown for the wedding with you?" Sam asked thinking he didn't want every hungry male and potential Elvis impersonator that they would meet today to get a hard-on from looking at Mercedes in her outfit. He knew he had no right to be territorial, but he didn't want any man appreciating her body but him and him alone.

"Well, it is Vegas, and what I am wearing won't be a problem if we choose one of those drive-thru chapels. Did you really think I had bought a wedding gown for a Vegas marriage that will definitely end in an annulment in less than two years?" Mercedes asked realizing her vision of their Vegas wedding differed completely from his.

"I am just thinking about your mom and my mom. They are going to be upset that we robbed them of throwing us the social event of the year - a big high society wedding, and in retaliation will probably give us a surprise vow renewal party if we don't throw some kind of bone their way. We are going to need pictures and for the public to be fooled that we are happily ever after, we are going to have to get married in proper attire. Because I am not sure I am strong enough to put up with another surprise event without blowing my top and causing us to both go to jail." Sam reluctantly admitted.

What Sam was saying made sense. She had lots of outfits in her wardrobe at home that would have been suitable, but for Vegas formal wear befitting a wedding was not something that she would have purchased or brought with her on a trip. She told Sam this suggesting that they shop for a gown after getting the ring and then come back to the condo to eat lunch and then change for their wedding.

Sam was only slightly mollified by Mercedes' concession. They would still have to shop for both the rings and her gown with her dressed so sexily, but if he knew from experience men avoided jewelry stores and stores that catered to women looking for wedding gowns, so he should be safeguarded from having to punch some jerk out for looking at Mercedes inappropriately." So do we have to wait for you to call your limo driver before we can leave?" Sam asked Mercedes. He was ready to get everything done with.

"We could which would draw attention to me, and I try to be incognito when I shop. I will be wearing a baseball cap and glasses as part of my disguise. Also, I have a car here that we can use."

"Is it another classic car like your Spyder?" Sam asked wanting to know if the car she had was as beautiful as the one she drove around Lima in.

"No, the rest of my cars are in California, I drive a newer car here." Mercedes admitted feeling embarrassed by owning more than one car.

"Forgive me if I am being nosey, but just how many cars do you own?" Sam couldn't help himself from asking.

"Just four cars total. I have a Porsche Cayenne Hybrid that I drive around here in Vegas only, and a Range Rover and 65 Corvette Stingray in California."

"I see now why you had Mike draw up that prenup. I don't need your money, but I would be a fool to not one want of your awesome classic cars." Sam joked.

"I am sorry that my babies are all at their respective homes, but you are more than welcome to drive the Porsche today. I have a top of the line GPS system installed so you should be okay. Are you ready to leave for the jewelry store, some high end dress store, and then head to somewhere to get a take-out lunch, Mr. Evans?" Mercedes said as she grabbed a granola bar, banana, Greek yogurt, and a bottle of water for her breakfast. She was surprised at the fruit and yogurt that Sam must have purchased with the paper that morning because she didn't keep perishables in the condo.

If anybody told him he would be driving a blue Porsche in Vegas with his fiancée wearing a 4 carat Double French-Set Halo Diamond engagement ring with rare purple diamond accents on a diamond platinum band valued at almost a quarter of a million dollars, while wearing an off the rack white short halter mesh dress with beaded waistline from David's Bridal that was the cheapest dress in the store for $59 and was the reason Mercedes had been adamant about buying it, he would have told them they had lost their minds. However, this was his life and he wasn't dreaming all he could think of was her engagement ring was on loan, but the $10,000 that they had both split the cost of for their wedding bands would be the most money that they would have invested in this sham of a wedding.

Because they had decided to stop at the first chapel that they drove up to, neither paid much attention to their surroundings when they began to enter the Love Me Tender Chapel of Wedded Bliss. Mercedes wanted to turn around as soon as they walk over the threshold and heard an Elvis impersonator welcoming them and observing that Mercedes' car was the same color as his _Blue Suede Shoes_.

Before Sam could say a word, Felvis (fake Elvis) was trying to convince both he and Mercedes to fully enter into the chapel. " _Don't Be Cruel_ to your lady love and run out like a _Hound Dog_ because you have changed your mind." Sam couldn't believe that the situation could be worse until he saw Felvis shake his hips and leer at Mercedes and tell her. "If this man isn't willing to be your _Teddy Bear_ then you don't have to go back to that _Heartbreak Hotel_ in _The Ghetto_ because I can't help _Falling in Love with You_." He said while licking his lips. Unfortunately this was the 70's version of Elvis instead of the 50s slimmer version of the star, he looked as he if he was literally getting ready to eat Mercedes with his hungry wolf gaze.

"OH HELL TO THE NO, Sam if you don't get me out of here right now I'm going to be doing the _Jailhouse Rock_ for slapping the spit out of his corny ass fake Elvis' mouth." Mercedes said. He wanted ghetto she would give him ghetto behavior even though she had never lived in the ghetto, she had watched enough television to know how to act like she was from the hood.

"I can see why you were hesitant to marry her; that little curvy lady is the _Devil in Disguise_." Felvis was about to continue, but when Sam saw Mercedes about to remove her earrings, he knew he had to get her out of there as soon as possible. He had seen her angry before but never violent. She was apparently being pushed too far with being forced to marry, and he was seeing what a tigress she truly was, and only he would find her feistiness arousing.

Sam picked up Mercedes in a fireman's lift and took her back outside while unlocking the SUV's doors he placed Mercedes inside and drove away from the chapel as fast as he could. Sam spotted another chapel a little further down the strip called Forever Yours. He didn't think that was an Elvis song, so he convinced Mercedes to get out by joking about their last encounter saying it couldn't be any worse.

Mercedes agreed with Sam and told him at least they would have stories to entertain their friends with concerning their elopement for years when she realized just how funny the situation would be to an outsider and not one who was directly involved in it.

Mercedes' smile was back on her face, and Sam felt relieved. She was so interesting. Sam began to wonder how it would have been if he had met her under different circumstances. He knew he would have asked her out, and if she was being honest about their mutual attraction, then the two would have dated, and he would have been like every other red-blooded male and tried to get it in with her, but her beliefs would have resulted in them not staying together in a committed relationship. Sam knew that he could be platonic with her as long as he didn't kiss her, but if they were in a relationship and making out all the time, he would have been a walking hard-on who was best friend with his hand to try to alleviate some of the sexual arousal that he knew he would constantly feel in her presence.

As soon as they parked in front the pretty little chapel, Mercedes couldn't stop herself from noticing how lovely it was on the outside, and when she stepped inside, she couldn't stop herself from telling Sam, "It's really beautiful."

Before Sam could say anything in response, a little old lady came out to greet them, "Welcome lovely couple to Forever Yours are you two here to tie that knot of matrimonial bliss?"

Sam wanted to say no they were here to get divorced, but he stopped himself and said, "Yes, ma'am we sure are."

Neither he nor Mercedes noticed the quiet man sitting behind the counter until he asked, "Do you all have the necessary paperwork?"

"Yes, sir" Sam said as he retrieved the marriage license from his suit pocket that they had gotten from city hall.

While Sam was talking to the quiet man, the petite gray haired woman was talking to Mercedes. He could hear her ask Mercedes, "Now dear where is your bouquet?"

"I don't really need one. I thought the point of a bouquet was to throw to single women after the ceremony while listening to Beyonce's "Single Ladies"."

"Oh, no dear, every bride needs a beautiful bouquet, and I also have a veil that comes with our lovebird packet. You get pictures, a video of the wedding, and two champagne glasses that will be mailed to you inscribed with your names and wedding date. Come with me while I get you ready, and your fiancé can finish setting up everything with my husband."

Mercedes didn't like be dragged away with the older lady, and she looked at Sam to show her discomfort before following behind the woman with an expression of sadness on her face. Sam sent her a reassuring smile hoping to ease some her tension. The older man caught their exchange and told Sam, "My wife thinks that every bride is a romantic like her, but she doesn't realize some people choose Vegas for a quick wedding because they don't necessarily want all the frills."

Sam not wanting to be rude agreed, "I can definitely tell that she loves weddings, which is fitting for her job working in a wedding chapel. I think it would be very difficult to do this day end and day out, if she didn't love seeing people get married."

After Sam finished selecting a song and paying for the lovebird package, he heard the older man say, "Well, we should go into the chapel now and wait for your bride." It didn't take long for the wait, and Sam could see that Mercedes was uncomfortable under the thin veil with a dozen of white roses in her arm as she came down the aisle to the traditional wedding march behind the giddy elderly lady who was dropping red rose petals down the aisle in front of Mercedes.

As soon as she reluctantly made it down the aisle, Mercedes listened to the older man give instructions about reading their vows from the Teleprompters located behind each of them. She nodded her head and watched as Sam looked over her head and saw like he saw on the screen where it said to insert the bride's name. They both giggled at this, causing the elderly couple to look at them with a knowing smile on their faces.

"Mercedes, I am honored to take you for my lawfully wedded wife, and I vow to love and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take all of you your faults, imperfections and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help be a helpmate to you as well as turn to you when I need a helpmate. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend the rest of my life with." Sam felt the knot that was in his throat deepen with that lie because he knew their marriage would only last a year and a half, but the reverend and his wife didn't need to know that bit of information.

The minister then turned to Mercedes. "Okay my dear, it is now your turn." "Samuel, I am honored to take you as my lawfully wedded husband, and I vow to…" Mercedes froze as in shock.

The older woman and the minister exchanged a concerned look, and then she stepped toward Mercedes. "It's okay dear. It's normal to be scared." She released her hands from his and turned to older woman. "No, I'm scared of snakes. I am completely terrified."

"Bridal pre-wedding jitters are completely normal. I had them myself when I married the mister over 50 years ago. It'll be okay. I believe that something special brought you to our chapel." She told the couple looking to reassure them.

Sam couldn't stop form uttering to himself, 'something special alright it was a court order.' He was happy that for once his loose lips didn't voice his thoughts out loud. Sam sighed and thought he should say something because the last thing either of them needed was her deciding thirty days in jail would be better than marrying him. So far though, she had rearranged her life more than he had. "It'll be okay darling, I know we are making the right decision, and I know that you can do this," he reassured her. Sam's heart almost stop beating when he saw the scared deer in the headlights look leave her expression and she began to smile up at him .

Mercedes turned, looked at Sam as to convince herself that she could really do this with him. "I really think I can," she finally admitted to Sam then she turned to the minister. "I am so sorry I think I am ready to try this again" She turned towards Sam who had held out his hands and again she placed hers in his. Her gaze met his, and she offered him a small smile. "Samuel, I am honored to take you as my lawfully wedded husband, and I vow to both love and care for you as long as we both shall live." She glanced at the teleprompter screen, and braced herself before returning her gaze to him. "I take you with all your faults and imperfections and your strengths as I offer myself to you with my faults and strengths. I will help be a helpmate to you as well as turn to you when I need a helpmate. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend the rest of my life with."

"Wonderful," The minister encouraged. "Do you have rings?" Sam nodded and then released Mercedes' hands and reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew the two rings. He held out his hand, and she removed the one that didn't match her engagement ring. "Okay, Samuel, go ahead take Mercedes' hand and read the screen again."

"I give you this ring to wear with all my love. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love have no end for you. I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore." He slipped the ring on her short chubby finger.

The minister turned to Mercedes. "It's now your turn again my dear."

She swallowed hard, glanced at the screen behind Sam then met his gaze. Mercedes took his hand and nodded once. "I give you this ring to wear with all my love. As a ring has no end, neither shall my love have no end for you. I choose you to be my husband this day and forevermore." She slid the platinum band on his finger and glanced down to see her hand still holding his.

"With the power vested in me, I pronounce you man and wife."

"We did it," he whispered. She nodded.

"You may kiss the bride." The minister cheerfully added.

Oh God, no! "It's okay. I think we're good," Mercedes assured with a smile.

The minister chuckled. "I don't consider a couple married until they kiss. Don't be shy."

The minister's wife giggled. "Those are the rules."

He glanced back at Mercedes. Yesterday he'd almost kissed her. Now he had no choice. He stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her waist. A quick peck and they could get out of there. Sam lowered his head toward hers and her lashes fluttered closed. The hand with her ring fell on his shoulder at the same time his mouth brushed against her full lips. They were even fuller and softer than he imagined and he lingered a moment. Her body eased against his and he deepened the kiss. His tongue caressed her lower lip and she let out a small gasp. His tongue entered and entwined with hers. His heart started to race and his body burned as he savored the flavor of her. Now that he had a taste of her honeyed mouth, he knew it was just as he feared that he would become addicted. He couldn't stop kissing her. He wouldn't even notice if the chapel was on fire as long as Mercedes was returning the kiss like she was he could remain lost in their embrace. He laced the fingers of his other hand in her hair and his groin stiffened. When Sam tightened his hold on her waist, she let out the sexiest moan he had ever heard softly against his mouth. An intense heat traveled through his entire body, and he was glad his suit jacket covered the effect kissing Mercedes had on him.

"Now, that's a kiss, I can see why she was shy about letting you do that to her in a public place." The minister's voice cut in and reminded Sam where he was. He lifted his head as her lashes fluttered open. For a fleeting moment, she looked slightly dazed and her breath was ragged and shallow. He couldn't blame her; the kiss was off the chart— and in word hot. Sam couldn't keep his eyes from her face. Mercedes' lips were more than a little swollen, and he wanted to run his tongue over them to comfort her. Right then and there he knew there would be no more kissing, because too many of those kisses, and they were going to end up in bed. He bit down on the side of his tongue. Sam didn't even want to imagine what kind of heat and ultimate satisfaction that would result in. A flash went off, and both he and Mercedes turned to the beaming old lady who was taking pictures with a nice camera.

"I know without a doubt that your marriage is going to be one that lasts, and I won't see you two back here because that was the kiss of a couple who is destined to be together."

Sam and Mercedes both glanced at each other and smiled over the craziness— it was better than laughing. Sam released his hold on Mercedes, and they both turned. The camera went off again, and he now knew two things. One, the wedding pictures should be interesting and two, no more kisses, ever.

* * *

Mercedes was relieved to be in the car heading back to the condo. After the wedding things had been fine, they had taken pictures at a variety of places using their cell phone and received the video package and digital emails of their wedding photos that they could share with their loved ones online. The copies of the printed pictures would be mailed alongside their glasses. After they had tired themselves out pretending to be a happily wed couple, they had eaten dinner at a nice restaurant her favorite when she was in Vegas before heading back to her home. Everything was going as planned except for the fact that she couldn't stop thinking about their kiss. She had never been kissed before so ardently that her knees had actually buckled. She chalked it up to the moment, to the fact that they found each other attractive and had been fighting the attraction for so long. There was no way could she allow herself to think it meant anything else, and she refused to set herself up for disappointment and heartache. This was a sentence— not a true marriage.

Once Sam had parked the Porsche, and they had walked inside the condo and pretended that neither the kiss nor the wedding had happened at all. Mercedes went into her bedroom took a shower and changed into a comfortable pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt putting her hair back up into a ponytail. She took her iPad and left her room heading to the balcony to enjoy her last evening away from Lima. She was surprised when Sam joined her with his tablet as well. They caught up on work barely speaking to each other. When they had finished catching up with their work, Sam asked her if it would be a good idea to turn their cell phones off after they sent out mass texts along with pictures telling their parents and friends that they were married. Mercedes agreed and they had a drink and talked about inane things until it was time for them to go to bed.

The next day, they had hurriedly packed, got into the limo driven by Roderick, turned their phones back on, and chose to ignore the numerous of missed calls that flooded their phones from their mothers. By the time they were on the private jet, Mercedes had time to listen to the numerous voice mails that were eating up her data storage limit. Apparently, in the three days they were gone, an exchange of gifts had occurred, thanks to her friend Kurt— event planner extraordinaire— and the brother of one of Sam's clients.

When they arrived in Lima, Sam was not surprised to see a car waiting to take them to Mercedes' home. As soon as they had arrived at the house and unpacked, Mercedes asked if he wanted her to join him at his office this morning. He knew she didn't want to sit around the house waiting to be ambushed by her mother and God forbid his mom as well, so he invited her to come along with him.

"Do you think our mothers will show up here once they realized I am not at home?" Mercedes finally asked after sitting quietly watching him work busily at his desk. Mercedes couldn't put her finger on it, but it was like Sam was intentionally ignoring her presence ever since they stepped off the plane in Lima.

"I seriously doubt it. We can hope they are both busy with their all so important jobs to be bothered to deal with us until after five." He glanced over at her after shaking his head.

"I guess you are right. My mom lives at court, the country club, and making my dad healthy dinners that she cooks each night."

Brittany came bursting through Sam's office a moment later. "I am so sorry for interrupting Mr. Evans, and oh my God it really is you. You are Mercedes Jones one of my favorite singers in the entire world. I so got to tell my cat Lord Tubbington that I finally got to meet you in the flesh." Brittany continued to gush forgetting what she came into the office to tell Sam.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Brittany, but my last name is now Evans." Mercedes corrected. "But just call me Mercedes. Mrs. Evans is to be reserved for my mother-in-law."

Sam couldn't believe that she was taking his last name, so he stopped what he was doing and looked at her. "You are really taking my last name?"

His voice was a mere whisper, but she didn't miss the surprise in his tone. "Yes and not because I am old-fashioned. I don't want anything to do with my middle name that sounds like Marshall. If I was a boy my name would have been Marshall Jones, but because I was a girl, she chose a middle name that sounded close to Marshall as possible. I am now legally Mercedes Jones Evans. That is how I signed the marriage certificate, and I am going to get my driver's license changed this afternoon at the DMV after I drop the papers and photo evidence off at Mike's office for crotchety Judge Washington." She too whispered. The last thing either of them needed was anyone knowing the details of their new life.

He studied her a moment and a wide range of emotions crossed his face. "I didn't think you would change your name because of your career." Sam didn't tell her how Quinn was not willing to take his last name. His mother's family may have been socially acceptable, but his father's Evans family were considered to be poor white trash to her, and she had refused to take his name at all and wasn't even willing to hyphenate. He figured since Mercedes was a star her name was important for her career, and she was willing to not use it for a year and a half just because she was sentenced to marry him.

Something was definitely off about Sam and for the life of her she was unable to put her finger on it. "I won't be doing much performing while we are married since I am pretty much stuck in Lima, and the few shows in Vegas, and if we are able to synch our calendars for a few other shows I will still use Mercedes Jones as my stage name, but for all other intents and purposes, I am Mrs. Samuel Evans."

"Mercedes Marcia Jones!" her mother called her name before bursting through the doors. The only time she used her middle name was when she was in big trouble. She spun on her high heel and faced her mother.

"Oh yeah, Sam I forgot to tell you that Judge Jones and your mother were here to see you. Your mother called earlier asking had I heard from you, and I told her that both you and Ms. Jones were here, and in less than fifteen minutes later, they were both here like magic." Brittany said proud that she remembered why she came into the office in the first place.

"Thanks Brittany, you are dismissed." Sam said knowing that the fireworks were about to fly, and none of them needed Brittany to be collateral damage. Even though she may have deserved it for not paying his speeding tickets and not giving him the heads up of the phone call and pending arrival of their mothers, so he and Mercedes could hightail it out of there.

Mercedes could tell that her mother was pissed. Her eyes widened slightly as Brittany's remarks and dismissal and then her mother and mother-in-law walked in, and she bounced her gaze between the two before telling her mother. "You forget that I am Mercedes Jones Evans now."

"What in the hell were you two thinking with that stunt?"

"Gee, Mommy Dearest, which stunt could that possibly be? The one in front of the Elvis wedding chapel I am sure you loved the picture of me flipping Elvis off that Sam took with his cell phone after I had taken a selfie and posted it on my Instagram warning people to only marry there at a last resort. The stunt in which we sent you one of the many pictures of where we actually got married, or the one where we thought making your lives as uncomfortable as ours have been since you both decided to interfere which was fitting even though your life being flipped upside down only lasted hours whereas ours will be flipped for eighteen months?"

Sam nodded grateful his little firebrand wasn't going down without swinging. "Mercedes is right, there is some clarification needed."

"I had livestock show up while court was in session," his mother-in-law exclaimed. "It was very disruptive, and I had to set the hearing back for hours due to the uncooperative chickens. Chicken excrement was everywhere among other animal wastes!"

"You mean they didn't heed your orders in the court room when you banged the gavel on the bench?" Judge Jones glared at her, and they locked gazes.

"You most definitely should have been a lawyer." Her mother-in-law chose that moment to say something.

"Forgive me, but I find that train of thought irrelevant at this point and inadmissible." She flashed Sam's mom a saucy grin.

"Don't get rude with Mary. What you and your husband did was uncalled for," her mother snapped.

"Uncalled for, Judge Jones, come off it." Sam finally spoke. "You both had a hidden agenda and played both the ADA and Judge Washington."

"Samuel, my office was filled with gold and silver coins. It took a cleaning crew two hours to find my desk." Mary placed her hands on her hips and glared at her son.

Sam turned to Mercedes. "Kurt is good."

She smiled and nodded. "One of the best, actually I think you'll like him. He is very attentive to small details." Of course, she left out one minor detail; he was also over the top flamboyant at times. She was sure her husband would find that out soon enough.

"Is that all you two have to say for yourselves?" Her mother barked again.

Sam reached into his briefcase and withdrew two envelopes. "No, actually we made sure you each of you got a copy of the marriage certificate."

Mercedes added "A souvenir of your manipulation and if you don't mind, I have to go down the hall and meet with Dwight he said something about taking me to lunch and now that I have on the correct shoes he is going to take me to an actual construction site."

Judge Jones turned to her daughter and stopped her before she could leave. "Your father told me to tell you he'll meet you at the restaurant. At the time, I had no idea what he was talking about."

Mercedes didn't want to have to deal with her father today, but she would to escape her mother's presence. "I will have Dwight drop me off at home, and I will see you later at dinner." Mercedes told Sam as she got up to exit the office.

Sam hesitated before telling Mercedes, "Actually, I'll be late tonight, so don't hold dinner for me. I am going to have Brittany order some take-out. I have to catch up on a lot of things." Sam's tone of voice was cold and flat.

"Don't worry Mercedes, I am sure your father and I would love to have dinner with you. It will give us time to have a long and overdue mother-daughter chat."

"Just wonderful" Mercedes said leaving the office as quickly as she could wondering if she would ever be able to escape from the nightmare her life had become.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I give most of the credit to the writers of Glee and Tickled Pink and reviewers who inspire me to churn out another chapter, so they can see why Sam is acting the way he is. This chapter starts off dramatic but don't give up, there is hope by the end of it. So sit down, buckle up, and hold on for a roller coaster type of chapter filled with revelations. When the chapter ends up being 7,000 words it takes me a while to type, proof, and post. So, please take that in consideration when noticing errors. And as always thanks for the continual support that you give.**

Chapter Six

This was Sam's third family Sunday dinner as a married man. One would think that things would be going easier, but the opposite was in fact in true. Dwight had accepted Mercedes as the daughter he never had, and his sister's movie night with Mercedes had been such a success that the two hung around each other too much this summer for his peace of mind. They went shopping together, got their nails done together, braided each other's hair, and even invited Tina and Andrea to many of their bi-weekly get togethers.

His mother had finally gotten over the incident in her office, and in almost four weeks of marriage, Mercedes was being treated as if she was one of the family.

Sam glanced at Mercedes, who was seated opposite of him at the table with Stacie choosing to sit on her right side which was near their father. It was obvious that Mercedes was not paying a bit of attention to the conversation going on around her but was concentrating on her plate in front her playing with her food instead of eating it. Mercedes obviously wasn't happy. She had a once a week lunch date with his dad and hers, and she would come by the office on those days, and she would smile, hug him, and call him sweetie. Then when she saw him at her home, she barely spoke to him.

He couldn't blame Mercedes. It was all, his fault. He buried himself with work and built up a wall between the two of them on purpose. She was just so bodacious, beautiful outside and inside, and brilliant. She had a way about her that drew people to her and even caused his mother to like her. Also whenever she came to the office, he hated it because every male in the office positioned themselves, so they could watch her walk away focusing in on her butt. No matter what she wore jeans, skirts, shorts, or dresses, her ass drew their eyes, and their lustful looks couldn't be mistaken. Brittany had even somehow gotten a hold of his phone and changed Mercedes' ringtone to EU's "Da Butt" since Sam loved 80s rap music so much. All Sam knew was more people than his father looked forward to her coming to the office to visit him.

"Mercedes you are awfully quiet tonight. I was telling your mother how our Bar Association is going to do the cancer fundraiser that you suggested. We would really love yours and Tina's help in planning it, if you are not too busy."

Mercedes blinked her eyes and started to pay attention to the conversation going on around her when she heard Mary say her name. She smiled at the older woman, and wholeheartedly agreed to help in any way she could, telling Mary that she would have to contact Tina to make sure her she was able to help.

"Mercedes you are an absolute doll. I just wish my mother would have lived long enough to have met you. She died from breast cancer, so this charity event will have a personal meaning to me. I know she would have really liked you."

'No mom,' Sam thought to himself, 'she would have loved Mercedes just the way you, dad, and Stacie do.' Sam was putting a wall between them for this very reason. He could fall in love with her too if he wasn't careful because Mercedes was the real thing. She had everything going for her, and this made living with her a complete nightmare.

"So, tell me why you will have all this extra time to help with the fundraiser?" Mary asked her daughter-in-law.

"I cancelled all my engagements in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It seems Sam has so much work to do that he can't free himself to travel with me, so I had to also give my label the news that we won't be able to release my sophomore album for at least another year. My management company is an uproar at me because I have refused so many out of state opportunities, and my publicist have threatened to quit because she feels that I am prohibiting her from doing her job which is keeping my name out there in the public. She says I am on a self-imposed exile because I refuse to let her publicize my wedding. All of them are telling me my actions may cost them and myself over thirty-five million dollars. So, you see I am doing just peachy." Mercedes couldn't keep the sarcasm from dripping from her tone.

Sam and his family just sat there in shock staring at her. So, she decided to continue her monologue. "Other than spending time with you all, and my parents and Tina and Mike, I have been helping my friend Kurt out with my extra time. He has been teaching me some of his catering skills, and I cook with his catering firm whenever he is throwing a big societal bash and needs the extra hands. I now can make hors d'oeuvres and flan like a French chef." Mercedes' last words were laced with bitterness and resentment.

Stacie was upset as a member of the Mercedes Militia would be with hearing her superstar idol was not putting out the long anticipated follow up album, and she couldn't keep herself from looking at her brother and demanding, "You didn't know that because of you Mercedes has had to postpone her career?"

Sam wanted to disappear. He felt like scum. He looked at Mercedes seeing unhappiness rolling off her in waves and answered his sister with the feeble excuse, "She didn't tell me anything about it." He looked back to Mercedes and noticed she was about to go off only to be interrupted by his brother's arrival.

"Hello, everyone I am finally back from a month on the road!" Stevie exclaimed bursting into the dining room looking in need of a bath, shave, and some fresh clothing.

"I missed you so much!" Stacie yelled going to hug her brother and then getting a whiff of his smell and deciding not to. She really missed her brother because with him gone her mother gave her only child in residence all her focus this summer, and it was enough to drive a girl crazy.

"I missed you all so much as well, and I brought presents for everyone except for this gorgeous lady sitting at the table. Mom, why didn't you tell me we were having company when I told you I was coming home today?" Not waiting for his mother to answer, Stevie grabbed Mercedes hand and kissed it then asked, "And who just might you be other than one of my dreams coming true?"

Sam wanted to hurl but looked at Stacie and gave her an answering eye roll to their brother's antics. Sam watched Mercedes smile up to Stevie in response. And he thought her smile was maybe a tad too sweet.

"I am your sister-in-law which you would have known if you had taken the time to answer any of the calls from your family in the past month."

Stacie couldn't hide her snicker. She knew Mercedes was too smart to fall for any of Stevie's lame attempts at seduction. Mary tried to hide her own smirk, but Dwight just laughed out loud saying that it was just in Stevie's nature to flirt, and he looked at Mercedes and told her to not take his youngest son seriously.

"Oh dad, stop trying to kill my rep." Stevie said and then looked at Sam. "I can't believe you actually got married bro. But looking at her, I can see what made you take the plunge."

"Well, I did, and this is your _sister_ -in-law, Mercedes." Sam said stressing the word sister so that Stevie got the point that unlike the other bimbos he brought home, Mercedes was not to be trifled with.

Stevie ignored his brother and focused on Mercedes who looked familiar to him for some reason. He raked his gaze over her his eyes straying to her gorgeous rack more than once before looking into her pretty brown eyes. "Welcome to the family Mercedes, I can't wait to get to know you better. I just know I am going to love you." Stevie gave her wink and a lopsided grin that looked so much like his brother's smile.

"Thank you, Stevie, I guess." She said before turning towards Sam. "You were right he is a flirt. Now maybe somebody in your family can help him because he seems a little slow and is confusing this family dinner with the time he obviously spends in pick up bars."

Stacie, his dad, and even his mom burst out laughing. Sam was glad that Mercedes feisty side was coming out erasing the sadness and anger from earlier. He turned to his brother, and told him without regret, "I am sorry bro, but she has already chosen the better Evans."

Stacie stopped laughing long enough to say, "I think she has your number brother dear, but I always knew she would be too smart to put up with your smarmy charm."

"I just love this girl. She is already like a daughter to me." Dwight said to Mary.

"She would have been an good attorney, but she is a loveable young lady." Mary opined.

Mercedes overhearing the conversation between the two, "I object." She told Mary jokingly as the two locked gazes.

"You didn't let me finish Mercedes. Stacie has been making us all listen to your music, and I can't help but to admit that you would have been a good attorney, but you are an extremely gifted and amazing singer. If Stevie had an ounce of your talent, I wouldn't object to him being in a band." Mary said which was a big turnabout in her character.

Before anyone could respond, Sam's phone began to ring at the dinner table which was a big no for Sunday dinners with the Evans' family. Sam looked at the phone and cursed. "Excuse me everyone, but this is an important call that I have to answer."

Mercedes watching Sam couldn't believe he would break his mom's rule, and who called anybody about business on a Sunday afternoon? "Really, Sam," her tone was ice cold in its intensity.

"I am sorry but it's very important," Sam said as left his family and answered the call.

Mercedes was peeved at Sam's behavior. This was his family not hers. Sure she had temporarily married into his family, but his father and Stacie had treated her as if she were family, and now his mother was warming up to her, but still for him to be so rude was unimaginable.

"Mercedes will you please help me get a plate and cutlery for my tardy to the dinner party brother?" Stacie asked Mercedes. She had hung around Mercedes enough to know that she was angry at Sam's behavior.

"Sure," Mercedes said excusing herself from the table and following Stacie into the kitchen happy to get away from the rest of the Evans family.

Before Mercedes had even stepped fully into the kitchen, Stacie was questioning her. "What is going on between you and Sam?"

Mercedes not knowing how to answer this denied that anything was going on. Stacie could tell she was lying. "Mercedes, dad told me the truth about you and Sam's marriage. Certain things just weren't adding up, and I may be young, but I am smart enough to know as your former stan that you and Sam have not been in a relationship for long, and if it was love at first sight, I could believe you eloped and married him. But my brother is anti-marriage, and you and he are barely around each other, and when you are together, it's like you are strangers unless we are out in public or Andrea is around. So I told my dad my suspicions, and he trusted me with the truth."

"Does Stevie know the truth?" Mercedes asked thinking his behavior would be acceptable if he knew she wasn't in love with his brother and vice versa.

"No, he doesn't know anything. He has been completely off the grid half-baked for most of the summer, but Mercedes you and Sam had everyone fooled me especially after looking at your wedding photos."

"I'm surprised that your mother doesn't have blown up copies of them displayed in your home." Mercedes said snarkily.

"But, it's the pictures that are so confusing. Anyone looking at the pictures could tell you too were happy and completely taken with each other. I remember how loving the two of you were at the engagement party, and you two didn't look like you were being sentenced to marry. You two looked and behaved as if it was the real deal."

"Well you know as I singer I have to be able to act to portray the emotions of the song that I sing, and I act in my music videos, and your brother must have some surprising skills as an actor as well."

"I know my brother, and he is no actor. I don't believe what you are saying is true."

Mercedes could understand why Stacie was questioning the veracity of her statement. She, too, had seen their wedding photographs when they were mailed from the chapel with the wine glasses. She could see how a person would think they were truly head over heels in love. "Sam doesn't like me in that way at all. Trust me when I tell you this."

"Are you out of your mind?" Stacie asked her sister-in-law. Everybody could see how her brother was pining after Mercedes like a dog that had lost his favorite chew toy. Before they could continue the discussion, Sam came into the kitchen.

"I am sorry for interrupting you two, but Mercedes we have to go."

"Why, it's Sunday evening for goodness sake?"

"I know, but I have to meet someone, and I will drop you off first." Sam couldn't keep the guilty expression from his face.

Mercedes was so used to Sam's erratic behavior that had him leaving the house super early in the morning and working late at night that nothing he did surprise her. She was almost 100% sure that he was having an affair. "Whatever, Sam, I will get my things and tell everyone goodbye."

Stacie could see how Sam's behavior was affecting Mercedes. "Mercedes, you don't have to leave. Sam, if you must go, then leave. If I am not allowed to drive Mercedes home later, then I will get Stevie or dad to take us both."

Sam shrugged his shoulders and admitted to Mercedes before leaving that he would probably be late in coming home. Mercedes held back the tears that were threatening to fall down her face and only nodded saying, "It is what it is Sam. I am pretty much used to your early mornings and late nights by now."

"Mercedes…" Sam could tell she was upset.

"Whatever Sam I am sure that I will be in bed when you get in. Goodnight."

"Okay, thanks Stace make sure she gets home safe." He said kissing his sister's cheek in goodbye and daring a sneak peak at Mercedes who had turned her back to him and was walking over to the cutlery drawer. Sam couldn't say anything else, so he just walked out of the kitchen to tell his parents and brother goodnight as well.

When Mercedes heard that Sam had left the dining room, she faced Stacie and told her, "I have seventeen more months of this, and I don't know how I am going to make it."

"I know my brother, and there is something seriously wrong with him, and I don't think he is intentionally making you and him unhappy." Mercedes looked at her with an I can't believe you expression. So Stacie continued, "Mercedes, I am serious, there is something seriously wrong, I have never seen him act this way before, and nobody knows what is going on with him."

"I just think he is having an affair, and he knows that if gets caught we both go to jail, and that is why he is acting so shady."

"I don't think my brother is that stupid, why would he risk you both going to jail after you have both given up so much to get married in the first place?"

"I don't have a clue Stacie I just can't understand him at all."

* * *

Sam had seen a considerable shift in Mercedes' personality since he'd left Sunday dinner two weeks ago. She no longer attempted to include him in her daily life at all. She didn't leave dinner for him or tried to interact with him. She still attended Sunday dinners with him with his parents, and when she saw him in public, she was the happy loving wife. However, when they were alone, she froze him out of attempting to have any type of communication with her. If he would even look in her direction, she would leave the room. He knew that he couldn't blame her because he had been avoiding her since they had landed in Lima. He thought he was doing what was best to ensure that their relationship remained platonic, but he was going to go insane if they kept up this cold war battle between them. He wanted to go back to how they were before arriving Lima, but he didn't know how when she refused to talk to him at all.

It was just his luck that today was Wonderful Wednesday as the people in office proclaimed it. It was the day that Mercedes came to the office before and after her lunch date with his dad. He could smell the faint traces of her perfume in the building before hearing her giggle at something his father had said. Sam didn't intend to eavesdrop on their conversation, but he couldn't stop himself from being drawn to his father's office. When he got to door he could see Mercedes standing with her back towards him. She had on fitted ripped jeans and a ball cap. A tiny piece of black Lycra could be seen through the rips so she wasn't exposing an inappropriate amount of skin. Sam couldn't keep his eyes from focusing on her firm, round apple bottom. He finally removed his eyes from her ass and traveled up her tiny waist and saw that she had on a purple Relay for Life t-shirt. He knew how snug the shirt fit her bosom, and part of him was tempted to enter the office so he could get the full frontal view.

"No, no Dwight, we don't need you to dye your hair pink for our team. So far we are the top team with $10,000 raised, and you are our top donor with your donation of $2500, I just need you to get some of your friends to match your donation before our deadline next Saturday. You are telling your employees that they are signed up to run or help out at the event on the 13th at 11:00 at Rhodes States College and OSU Lima."

"Yes, Mercedes, we will be there early to help you guys set up. I will do whatever you need me to do." Sam heard his father's eagerness in doing whatever Mercedes wanted, and he couldn't help but feel a little jealous of their relationship. His father made Mercedes happy; something he was obviously incapable of doing. He didn't mean to make a sound, but obviously he alerted them to his presence, and Mercedes turned around and Sam noticed that she was wearing glasses. He had never seen her in her black frame hipster glasses before. He liked them on her they made her look young and almost unrecognizable with her cap shading her face.

Mercedes was surprised to see Sam. Normally he avoided his dad's office when she was there. She couldn't keep his name from leaving her lips in recognition of his presence. He was looking at her the way he used to before he kissed her at their Vegas wedding ceremony.

Sam couldn't keep his eyes off of Mercedes' lips as he entered his father's office. He could tell she was surprised by his presence, and she was wearing purple lipstick which defined the shaped of her pursed lips, and he couldn't help thinking of the kiss they shared at their wedding. He wanted nothing more than to grab her in his arms and kiss her like he did that day to see if his dreams lived up to the actual sensation of kissing her would be. He also wanted to apologize to tell her he was willing to do whatever it took to get them back to where they were before he started acting like a jackass.

"Sam, your wife is doing an excellent job with the Relay for Life fundraiser." Dwight said looking at Mercedes the way a proud father looks at his child.

"I know dad she is really good at everything she does; I am very proud of her."

Mercedes felt her mouth drop open in shock. She looked at Sam thinking that he had finally sipped the Kool-Aid that his sister had been threatening to give him not to kill him but to wake him up. "That is nice to hear." She couldn't keep herself from saying when all eyes were on her.

"Dad, you don't mind if I talked to my wife alone do you?" Sam asked.

"Sure no problem, you don't have to leave my office, I was on my way to another site. The plans that I have drawn up for a building is causing our construction company some problems, so I am going to see what the hold up is. I will see you both at Sunday dinner." Dwight said while giving Mercedes a kiss on the cheek and giving Sam a pat on his back as he exited his office.

Mercedes didn't know what to think when Sam closed the door to his dad's office and walked closer to her. "Is something wrong?" She couldn't help but ask because she couldn't fathom the reason behind Sam's behavior.

Sam couldn't help but to be honest, "Mercedes, yes something is very wrong, and I was hoping that we could talk about it."

Mercedes felt her heart sink to the bottom of the stomach. Sam was getting ready to tell her that he wanted them to end the marriage. "Why don't we talk tonight, I promised Kurt that I would help him with an event today because of his generous donation to Relay for Life."

Sam could tell Mercedes was avoiding him, and he tried to be honest to get her to be willing to sit down and talk to him. "I just want you to know that I meant what I said that I am extremely proud of you." Sam said looking into her eyes and he wanted to kiss her so badly, but knew if he did that she would probably slap his face, and he wouldn't blame her. Before he could act on his instincts, Sam heard his phone ring, and he glanced at his parent's home number before hesitating to answering it. "Hello."

Mercedes couldn't believe Sam. His phone and whoever was on the other line was apparently more important than her. Instead of waiting for him to end the call, Mercedes just rolled her eyes and started to walk out of the office leaving him to his important conversation.

"Sam, I know you think that I am too young to be all up in your business, but I have to know something."

"What is so important Stacie?"

"Are you cheating on Mercedes?"

Sam couldn't believe his sister. "Hell no, you must be out of your mind. You have seen how gorgeous she is. Why would I do something stupid like that?"

Mercedes was closing the door when she heard him say someone was gorgeous. She couldn't stop the gasp from leaving her mouth as she raced to the elevator leaving Sam as if the hounds of hell were chasing after her.

Sam's eye was drawn to Mercedes, and he saw her reaction. He wanted to chase after her and finish his phone call with Stacie, but he saw he had another call coming in. "Stacie I got to go I have another call coming in." He knew Stacie was upset with him accusing him of an affair which meant that Mercedes thought Sam was jeopardizing everything and was having an affair, and he couldn't do anything about it because he had to handle the person of the phone. His life couldn't get any worse, he thought as he tried to handle business.

* * *

Mercedes knew without a doubt that Sam was having an affair, and she was going to have to put a stop to it. She wasn't willing to risk going to jail because he couldn't keep it in his pants with his gorgeous lady friend. If he was so hard up for sex, then why didn't he lust after her and try to seduce her. Hell every other loser in Lima seemed more than willing to get in her pants, but it was as if the attraction he confessed to having for her before they got married had disappeared after they had kissed. She didn't know what to do, and after confessing all to Tina and Stacie, she decided to take their advice. They told her that she had to do something that would get his attention.

She heard him enter the house much earlier than normal and was not surprised that the first room he went in was the spare bedroom that he had been using as an office. All of his stuff had been removed and inside the room were two doggie beds and the room was filled with dog paraphernalia for her two new pets Chewie and McConaughey, who were barking at Sam for entering into their new home.

"Mercedes what the hell," Sam yelled out to her not knowing what was going on. He was afraid that she had moved him out of her home. He was also worried that she had gathered his belongings and set a fire to it all outside in her backyard in a big bonfire of revenge.

"Oh I see you have found the two new additions to our family. With people always asking me when we were going to start having children, I have decided to put them out of their misery by telling them we have two boys. Aren't they so cute? McConaughey is the one that is all white, and Chewie is the one with black, white, and gray hair. Congratulations, Sam you are a father." Mercedes said in her best imitation of Maury's voice.

"Where is my stuff? I had everything the way I wanted it!"

"I moved it to my small study. Don't worry, the things that didn't fit, I had removed to your bedroom. I didn't throw anything away."

"Mercedes…" Sam began raising his voice.

"Don't Sam, don't, I didn't even think I would be up when you came home to notice the changes. You are home before dark which is a miracle; unless you are just here to change clothes before leaving for another 'all important meeting'. Oh let's stop pretending, your meetings are not true meetings. Your mistress must be busy tonight. Or is she on her cycle or have you decided to change up on girlfriends? Stacie told me you normally rotate them around every few months. It's a little early, but I am not surprised that you are bored with the one you have now."

Sam felt as if she had slapped him, punched him in the gut, and then kicked him in the balls. He didn't know how to reply to her false accusations, but the only sound that escaped his lips before being interrupted by barking dogs was 'no.'

"It's okay Chewie, mommy is fine. That mean old man is not going to hurt her anymore."

"Mercedes, I have never lied to before you and believe me when I tell you I am not having an affair."

"Sam you doubted my intelligence before, but you must think I am stupid as the bimbos you were dating before me. Maybe I should have gotten pet kittens because we both know how much like pussy." Mercedes said being so uncharacteristically vulgar that she shocked not only Sam but herself as well. She saw the look of offense on his face, but she couldn't stop her wayward tongue.

"Believe what you want. I am not sleeping with anyone, and forget it. I can't talk to you right now." Sam said as he turned around grabbed his wallet and keys and left Mercedes' house as if McConaughey and Chewie were chasing after him.

"Don't worry I won't wait up!" She yelled after him gathering McConaughey and Chewie in her arms and allowing the dogs to lower her elevated blood pressure. She heard Sam slam the door in anger. "Well, I think I got his attention," she told her pets before getting up to answer her phone that was ringing.

"So what did Sam do?" Stacie asked. She was hoping that Sam went all Rhett Butler to Mercedes' Scarlett, and she was looking forward to hearing the juicy details.

"I think he hates the fact that I confronted him about cheating on me, he hates the dogs, and he hates me." Mercedes was debating whether or not to do an Olivia Pope and have a glass of red wine while eating popcorn while filling her best friend in.

"Oh, no Mercedes you were supposed to get his attention. I thought you were going to put on sexy lingerie, do a striptease, or at the most open the door to him with a trench coat on with nothing on under it. I was hoping to get your voicemail when I called."

"Marietta Anastasia Evans, have you lost your ever loving mind? I don't care if you are about to be a senior in high school, I don't want to know the X-rated thoughts you have concerning me and your brother. You need to stop reading those mature fanfictions that members of my fan base write about me. You should only be reading the ones rated T for Teens."

"Whatever Mercedes, I can watch a Rated R movie, so I can read Rated R fiction. But getting back to the disaster at hand what did you do to set him off?

"You mean other than confront him for being a man whore?"

"Mercedes, I can't believe you did that. He is not cheating on you. He has been working with a big client to speed up production on all his major projects partly to avoid you and also for another reason."

"I don't want to hear this Stacie. That still doesn't explain why he has been avoiding me."

"Well, I called him today and flat out asked him whether or not he was cheating on you."

"And he was going to admit to his kid sister that he was cheating on his wife and was risking having himself and your friend his wife jailed because of his behavior? No, I don't think so."

"Mercedes my brother doesn't lie. He told me that I had to be joking, and he wouldn't cheat on you because he thinks you are gorgeous."

"Well if he so attracted to me than why does he ignore me and do whatever it takes to avoid my presence?"

"I really believe it is because he is falling in love with you."

"Have you been smoking some of Stevie's weed?"

"Stevie doesn't smoke weed he eats brownies and licks suckers with cannabis, and no I don't need his brand of medication. When you are not around all Sam can do is talk about you. If I have to hear one more time how smart, talented, and kind you are, I swear I am going to puke. For as long as I can remember, I have never heard my brother carry on about a woman the way he carries on about you."

"If that is how he feels, then why hasn't he said anything? You know I couldn't hide the fact that I was falling in love with him, and he has done everything to make me fall out of love with him."

"Mercedes what are you saying?"

"What do you think I am saying Stacie?"

"You said you were falling in love, but I hate to break the news to you, you are in love with my brother."

"I was starting to fall in love, but…" A beep on her phone notified Mercedes that Tina was calling. "I am sorry Stacie, but I got to take this call from Tina. I will call you back."

"Okay, don't forget to call me back, I am not finished talking to you Mercedes." The young teen said before hanging up.

"What's up Tee?" Mercedes greeted her friend grateful for the interruption she provided in getting her off the phone with the insightful Stacie.

"I am just calling to tell you that Sam has just shown up here at our house. I am gathering from what I am overhearing that you two had a fight over the two furballs you have in his former office."

"Tina you don't know the half of it…" Mercedes was distracted from hearing two loud male voices in the background. "Why don't you call me later because I think I am about to lose my mind, and the only thing that will calm me if it I vent my emotions in my music."

"Okay, promise me that you will call me later."

"I promise Tee." She said hanging up the phone.

"Mike, I need a divorce; I can't put us through this pain for another year."

"You won't need a divorce; you two can get an annulment in about sixteen months as planned."

"I won't be able to stay married to her for that long. I am seriously attracted to her to the point that I am almost out of mind with lust for her."

"Seriously Sam," Mike couldn't help but to look at Sam and shake his head.

"You have seen her Mike. She is sexiness personified and not just beautiful on the outside but so beautiful within. She lights up a room with her smile, she has tamed my mother, my father loves her more than he loves me, and let's not take Stevie's and Stacie's opinion in hand. She is so smart and talented. How could any red-blooded man stop himself from wanting to touch those generous curves, kiss those succulent lips, and make love to her all night long?"

Tina chose that moment to enter into the conversation. "You know if anybody else came in and heard a man saying he wants to divorce his wife because he wants to make love to her, then they would think you were certifiably crazy. Honestly, I thought you two would have been in bed together after two weeks."

"I gave you four weeks because Mercedes is a virgin and is known to be stubborn as a mule."

"Stubborn you don't know the half of it. She is afraid of losing control and has to be in charge like her mother." Sam said thinking that he saw a little of Melanie Jones in his wife that night.

"Sam, could you blame her? She has had to give up a lot more than you have had to, and she thought it was all for no reason because you were going to get caught cheating on her."

"Yeah, she told me she thinks I am cheating on her, and I can't understand why she would think I would be so stupid and do that."

"Sam you are always on your phone, you are keeping some long hours at work, and I would think the same thing based on your past and current behavior."

"The only woman I want is Mercedes. I know we haven't been together long, but no other woman compares to her." Realization hit after hearing what Tina was actually saying. "Are you saying that she knows more about my past than what Noah had told her?"

"Yep, she researched you on the Internet before agreeing to even marry you. Your reputation on the society pages spoke for itself. Mercedes is heavily into research and has been since I met her in law school." Mike told Sam.

"Her love of research and learning was something that gave her a reputation of a nerd at our high school." Tina added.

"She is the hottest nerd that I have ever met." Sam said remembering how she looked in her glasses earlier. "I have no desire to cheat. The only woman I want is my wife, and that is why I have been avoiding her because I couldn't trust myself to keep my hands or my lips off of her."

"So, why are you here and not with your wife telling her these things?" Mike asked.

"She has gotten two demon seed dogs without asking me; she has expanded our so called family with not one but two dogs who obviously don't like me."

"I can't believe she actually adopted McConaughey and Chewie. She has been volunteering at an animal shelter since Kurt threw his last fundraising banquet for funding that place. She was afraid that if nobody adopted them, they were going to be put to sleep. I am so glad she did it. Those dogs love her, and she loves them, too." Tina admitted.

Sam felt sick. He didn't know Mercedes was using some of her newly found leisure time volunteering at an animal shelter. There was so much about his wife that he didn't know. "Will, you please tell me about the true Mercedes not what the public knows about the celebrity? I have messed up, and I have got to do something to make sure she forgives me."

"Are you crazy Sam? Mercedes is the real deal: beauty, brains, generous, and the most forgiving person I know; besides, I know for a fact that she is crazy about you and has been hurt by your behavior towards her, but her main issue is that you haven't been there for her like you promised. She told me about Team Samcedes and how you have disappointed her."

"I know I have hurt her, and I am so sorry for doing that more than my words can express, but I have the next sixteen and a half months with her, and I want to fix it. Please Tina help me." Sam was desperate he needed to know how to undo all the damage that he had done to his and Mercedes' relationship.

"I have already probably told you too much; I don't know what I else I can tell you Sam."

Mike knew what was needed and spoke up, "Tina was diagnosed with breast cancer a year and a half ago. I was just at the point that I had gathered enough courage to propose to her, and I thought my life was going to fall apart. Mercedes found out, and she left California, her work, her commitments, everything, and she came back home to be there for us."

"Mercedes used to have super long hair that when straightened reach to the middle of her back. She had it permed and cut off, so I could have a human hair wig made from her own personal locks of love when I started to lose my hair. There is no sacrifice too great that Mercedes would not make for those she loves. You need to realize that you will never find another woman like Mercedes, and your marriage to her doesn't have to be a sentence any longer. You two could make the marriage real."

"I agree with Tina. You two have a prenup, so it doesn't matter whether or not you get a divorce versus getting an annulment if you two decide to end the marriage when your sentence is up. An annulment just states the marriage never existed, and therefore neither party can sue for alimony. I think I know you well enough that you won't even attempt to break that ironclad prenuptial agreement to go after Mercedes' assets because if you do you won't be getting a thing."

Sam didn't know what to say, but he realized he was talking to the wrong people. He should be talking to Mercedes. "I just want to thank you two from the bottom of my heart. You two are really the best friends Mercedes could ask for, and I see you as my good friends as well."

"You don't have to thank us Sam. I have enjoyed getting to know you, and I believe you are a good guy, and I treasure our friendship. You just got to work this thing out with Mercedes yourself because there is nothing that we can tell you to help you out."

"You are right Mike. I am going home to talk to her."

"She will probably be downstairs in the studio." Tina told him with a sheepish expression.

"Well, I am going to go down there and interrupt her, so please pray for me because I am hoping that we can kiss an make up and put all this bad stuff behind us."

"If I were you, I would definitely try kissing her. It may be the only way you can shut her up, and who knows; she may very well kiss you back." Tina said hugging him and then wishing him a goodnight.

Sam finished hugging Tina and told her, "I am going to be going after more than just a kiss." He admitted the weeks of unfulfilled sexual tension had him the horniest he had been in his entire life. After hearing what Mike and Tina said about Mercedes, he wanted her even more if that was physically possible.

Mike winked at Sam and gave him a bro hug, "I told my wife you were a smart man even though she was convinced you were an idiot."

Sam didn't say that he agreed with Tina on his way out, but he knew he had been an idiot and could only pray that Mercedes' forgiving nature would allow him a chance back into her heart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Brace yourselves into hating me by the end of reading this chapter. I tried to keep true to the original author's intentions for character development, and that is why I chose to include the disturbing beginning and the frustrating ending. As always I don't own much of this story, JT Schultz and RIB deserve most of the credit. I wanted you all to know that I enjoy reading your reviews for some of you I can't reply back, but I really want you to know that I thank you for taking the time to write your thoughts that sometime mirror my own, and I am like who is writing this story me or you. Thanks again for all the follows, favorites, and reads. You are the reason these stories get posted and don't just stay inside my fertile imagination.**

Chapter Seven

Noah had unfortunately spent his night in drunken dissipation. Neither his wife nor his other side chicks would give him the time of day. Who knew that Kitty, Brittany, and Sugar all went to the same gym and attended the same Zumba class? Once they found out about him, they had cut him off cold turkey. Normally on nights that he could get away from home and didn't have a lady friend, Noah knew he could always hang out with Sam. Sam had been extremely busy since he married Mercedes, and Noah decided to go bar hopping on his own. After the last bartender in the bar he visited threatened and fulfilled his threat to cut him off, Noah sat at the bar stool in a drunken stupor and knew he couldn't go home to Rachel in his state.

The bar that he was in was owned by a friend of his and Sam. Lauren was a retired wrestler who had come back to Lima to live after having a successful career in the sport. Lo's Bar and Grill was usually the last place he went to drink because Lauren had told whoever was tending the bar to make sure he never got pissy drunk and to send him in a cab to Sam's place because she didn't want his wife and kids to see him in his usual maudlin state.

Now that Sam had married, he only came to Lo's Bar and Grill when he was meeting with a client and not for social drinking with Puckerman. Lauren made sure she had Sam's new address on file, and when she was notified that Puckerman was in her bar drunk as a skunk, she had called the cab herself to take him to Sam's. She had tried calling and warning Sam, but all her calls were going straight to his voice mail. So, she left him text as soon as the cab drove off hoping that Sam would be at his home to tend to Puckerman and to help sober him up.

Mercedes was so busy working on a song that she didn't hear the doorbell ring at first. When she finally did hear it, she figured it was either Stacie or Tina coming to check on her since she hadn't returned either or their calls. She went upstairs to open the door without even bothering to look to see who it was.

A chill ran down her spine when Noah Puckerman came inside her home. She didn't feel comfortable having him in her home without Sam around, but she decided to be nice. "Hello, Noah, Sam is not here, so I am afraid you will have to come back by if you want to see him."

During the cab ride to the house that Sam had never invited him to, Noah began to feel anger consume his him. Before he married Mercedes, Sam and he were thick as thieves. Now, Noah barely saw the man, and it was if their friendship meant nothing to other man who he thought loved him like a brother. Noah listened to Mercedes and was shocked to find out Sam wasn't home. "I find it kind of strange that since you've been married you spend more time alone than with your husband. What is Sam out working late again? He is too busy to be a friend and too busy to be a husband." Noah said stepping closer to Mercedes.

Mercedes could smell the alcohol coming off of Noah, and she knew that she had to get him out of her home. He had an unholy glint to his eyes, and his speech indicated that he was drunk enough to be dangerous. "Sam will be home in a minute. He just went to Mike and Tina's while I was downstairs working in my studio." Mercedes told him trying to get between him and the door either for her to leave or to push his drunken ass out her home.

Noah may be drunk but he wasn't stupid. He could see what Mercedes was up to. She couldn't lie worth shit. "I don't believe a word you saying. Why don't you admit that Sam hasn't been satisfying you as a husband should?' He asked her before stepping even closer to her and using his fingers to touch and caress her face.

Mercedes didn't know where his disgusting hands had been, or she would have turned her face so that she could place her mouth on his fingers and bite his digits off. The smell of him, the feel of him, and the thoughts of his skin in her mouth made her want to vomit all over him. Swallowing hard she told him, "Don't you ever touch me again you drunken jackass!" As soon as she said these words, Noah gripped her upper arms turned her around against the wall then he pushed up on her. His tall and muscular body was going to be almost impossible to break free from. He may be drunk, but he was also strong as hell.

"Please, I am begging you. Let me go." Mercedes tried another tactic hoping that hearing her voice whimper in surrender that Noah would loosen his hold. Never in her life had she wanted Sam Evans to come home as much as she did now, and she didn't think he would be returning soon which was causing her to panic.

"I can't wait to feel those dick sucking lips of yours on my cock as I fuck your mouth and then I will flip you so that big juicy ass is in the air, and I will take you doggy style. I bet Sam is all soft and gentle with you. I know girls like you want it rough. You want me to go all of _50 Shades of Gray_ on you. Don't you?"

Noah had lost his mind, and true panic began to course through Mercedes' soul. "I DON"T WANT YOU. LET ME GO!" Mercedes screamed and began to struggle against Noah's body.

When Mercedes began to squirm against his body, Noah felt his erection for her get even harder. She was soft and petite unlike his fitness obsessed wife and ex-girlfriends. She was made for him. He was going to tame Mercedes. and she would be crying out his name in pleasure. "Keep on struggling, that little body of yours feels so good against mine."

As soon as she felt his erection and then heard his words, fear and revulsion hit her like a crashing wave causing her to stop. "I am a happily married woman, and I am sorry that you are obviously not happily married to your wife, but I would rather die than have you touching me." Mercedes was out of mind struggling with Noah that she didn't hear her door opening.

"If you don't take your hands off of my wife right now, I am going to kill you Noah Puckerman." Sam said in a voice that was animalistic and cold as ice. He knew if he touched his former friend that he would be serving time in jail. When he came into the house, he wasn't expecting the image of his wife being trapped against the wall by his former friend, and when he heard the words coming out of her mouth, he had to calm himself down because he knew more than anything else that he wanted to kill Noah.

Noah was surprised; he was so focused on Mercedes and her body that he didn't hear Sam open the door and come in behind him. He let Mercedes go and watched as she ran into Sam's arm. He saw that Sam wore a lethal expression and knew that if he said or did the wrong thing he wouldn't be leaving the Evans' home with his life.

"You are going to apologize to my wife, then get the hell out of our home, and never return. If I see you ever even look in her direction, or God forbid you lose your mind and talk to her, I'll press charges against you, myself after I beat the hell out of you in a fair fight and not a one-sided brawl with a drunk." Sam had left his cell phone in his car when he was inside the Chang's home. When he heard Lauren's voicemails and got her text, he rushed home because he didn't think Mercedes would let a drunken Noah in her home. He knew Noah wouldn't have the sense to have the cab driver wait to see if he were at home, so he figured he would find his drunken friend on his doorstep. Instead what he found had Sam so angry that he if could get away with murder and not rob his former friend's children of a father, he would have gladly severely maimed or killed Noah Puckerman.

"Come on man, I didn't mean anything. I am just drunk and horny. I am your friend Sam. Bros before hoes is what we always said." Noah tried to get Sam on his side afraid of what Sam would do to him.

"You are not my bro, and you are definitely not my friend. I am so tempted to call my dad, my mom, Mercedes' mom the judge, and her father, and have you lose your job and sent to jail for aggravated assault. The only reason why you are not in a police car right now is because I know my wife, and she wouldn't want her name tarnished if the paparazzi found out about what happened tonight."

"Sam don't let Dwight know or your mothers. I would lose my job, kids, and wife. You know Rachel doesn't work. How would my family survive if I get arrested?" Noah began to whine and complain like a baby.

Sam was right about Mercedes not wanting anyone to know about what happened tonight. If he had kissed her, fondled her, or God forbid raped her, she would have press charges regardless of her celebrity status. She really hoped and prayed he was drunk out of his mind, and this wasn't a repeated MO for him. "You need to grow the hell up Noah Puckerman. Your actions and your actions alone have already cost you a friendship with Sam, and I don't even know Rachel, but I do know that she deserves better than to have you as a husband."

Noah felt like a child being chastised by his parents. He knew he had to apologize to Mercedes so he told her he was sorry, but his drunken mind couldn't keep him from being honest with Sam. "I just don't understand how you ended up married to her. She is totally different than anyone you ever been with. She is the opposite of Quinn."

The last thing Mercedes wanted to hear was Noah's doubts about why Sam had married her. She knew she wasn't a super skinny model type and was black, which was the total opposite type of all the women Sam had dated. So, she enjoyed her food, she was physically fit, and she didn't need to bow down to society's pressure of thinking that thin was the only kind of beautiful.

"And do you know that is exactly why I chose to marry her, now get the hell out of my sight before my fist ends up on your face knocking your teeth down your throat which should shut your big ass mouth." Sam couldn't keep the anger from spewing from his words as he balled up his fist knowing that he was so close to losing control.

"I can't believe you Sam. We have known each other forever, and you are going to let this little bitch come between us?" Noah said shaking his head in drunken disbelief.

Rage consumed Sam and before he knew it he had lunged at Noah and threw him against the wall and had drawn his fist to smash it into his face, but he felt Mercedes hand cover his own. "Believe me as much satisfaction that it would give me to have you beat the alcohol out of him. I don't want blood staining my Persian carpet. In other words, he is just not worth it. You are the better man, and I don't want you bringing yourself down to his despicable level. I am hoping it is just the alcohol talking, but if he says these things while sober, I give you my express permission and blessing to kick his sorry ass."

Sam turned their hands over as to hold her hand in his. He counted down from ten a strategy he had to use when dealing with his mother, and calmed himself down before growling at Noah. "Get your drunken ass out of my home. I hope you have your cell phone on you because I am not calling you a cab or your wife to come pick you up." Sam opened the door and glared at Noah.

Noah just shook his head in disbelief and backed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Mercedes let out a sigh of relief and took her hand from Sam feeling emotionally drained.

"Mercedes…" Sam began to say only to have Mercedes crumble into his arms shaking from the aftereffects of having Noah trying to force himself on her. "If I hadn't shown up…"

Mercedes took a calming breath and realize she would have gotten free by using the self defense technique of S.I.N.G. (Solar Plexus, Instep, Nose, and then Groin) and got her dogs to bite the hell out of Noah if he would have put his slimy lips anywhere on her body. She told Sam this and then said, "You would be back at the courthouse with me facing assault charges, and Noah would be in the hospital. It is partly my fault for not looking to see who it was before I opened my door. I have to admit my part in tonight's disastrous events."

"This place is highly secure. You have cameras everywhere. Why did you open the door?" Sam really wanted to know. He was proud that she knew how to defend himself, but she was in her rational mind now. If she was paralyzed with fear, would she have been able to save herself from Puckerman? He didn't know, but he hoped and prayed she would have been, or those damn dogs would have heard her scream and somehow broken out of his former office to rescue her.

"I had been downstairs recording a song, and I knew both your sister and Tina were probably concerned that I hadn't returned their calls, so I foolishly assumed that it was one of them at the door. I will never make that assumption again. I have learned my lesson. What are you doing back so soon? I didn't think you would be coming back at all tonight."

"I know I haven't been around much, and I completely overreacted tonight. This is your house, and if you want to make me sleep on the couch, then it's your prerogative. If you want to get another dog or pet snake, then it's your right, you don't have to come to me and ask my opinion. I left because you accused me of cheating. It hurt me to think that you thought I would jeopardize our freedom to quote you for some pussy." Sam admitted.

Well, I am glad you are not upset about the dogs. I am in this 4800 square foot house, and I get lonely. I can only spend so much time with Tina, Stacie, and Kurt. They have their own lives you know. And I am sorry for being so crude."

"And I am sorry for avoiding you."

Mercedes was so glad that he admitted that he had been avoiding her. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off her chest. "Why were you avoiding me Sam?"

"You know that I am very attracted to you even though I haven't told you or shown you lately. I have been avoiding you because I am so much more attracted to you than I have ever been. I knew that if I was around you for an extended time and we were alone, that I would do something that would be considered to be extremely idiotic."

"What would you have done?" Mercedes asked.

"How about I show you rather than tell you." Sam said as he encircled her waist with his arms and lowered his head to kiss her the way he had dreamed of kissing for weeks. Sam couldn't stop the kiss from getting out of hand because of the way Mercedes melted like liquid gold into him. She wasn't fighting the kiss, and her lack of inhibitions caused Sam's hold on her to tighten.

Mercedes literally was getting weak in the knees from Sam's kiss. It was if he had awakened every nerve cell in her body. She was under a spell. Sam had her completely ensnared in a seductive web, and she was resisting him at all. When he ran his tongue over her lower lip and used his teeth to slightly bite the plump flesh, she couldn't help but to open her mouth. As soon as her mouth opened, Sam wasted no time in entering his tongue into her mouth intertwining his tongue with hers.

Sam could feel Mercedes' nipples hardened into stiff peaks beneath her bra, and he was tempted to remove her shirt, tear away her bra, and put his mouth on the nipples and suckle her until she was moaning in his arms. Sam knew that she was a virgin and taking her up against the wall in her foyer wouldn't be a smart move on his behalf. He had to calm himself down and tear his mouth away from hers before he totally lost control. "I am sorry." Sam whispered when he didn't realize that his hands had already made their way to caressing her breasts.

"What are you apologizing for? If it is for the kiss, then you need to hold your breath because I love the feel of your lips on mine. It felt as if I was made to be kissed by you our mouths complement each others."

Sam's wide mouth broke out into a grin. "I was most definitely not apologizing for the kiss. In fact I plan on kissing you a lot more."

"That might lead us into temptation and down the road to trouble."

"I know that there is no way that I can remain married to you for the next sixteen months and be able to keep my hands off of you. I dream and daydream about the kiss we shared when we got married all the time. I didn't think my dreams could be real, but after kissing you today, I realize that no dream or memory can compare to the actual feel of your lips on my own."

"I feel the same way Sam. I was really hurt with the distance you put between to us."

"Would you be happier if we spent more time together?" Mercedes nodded yes in response to Sam's idiotic question. "I have to be the most stupid man in the world. I don't know how you could ever forgive me for being such an idiot."

"It is just lucky for you that I happened to like you…when you are not being an idiot that is."

Sam loved her feisty nature and couldn't stop himself from grabbing her arm gently and leading her to her bedroom. Sam had never really been in her bedroom before, and instead of paying attention to the décor, he was losing the battle to keep his hands from her body and his mouth off of her lips. He gently nudged her knees to the back of the bed which caused Mercedes to fall on the bed behind her. He sat down beside her on the bed for only a moment before he had lifted her up to straddle his waist.

He waited for her to struggle to tell him no as she got comfortable. All Sam could do was look at her beautiful face. He studied every detail from the molten heat making her brown eyes darken in lust to her lips that were still slightly swollen from his kiss earlier bypassing her little button nose. He would imagine himself like this in her bed every night, and he hadn't slept well for weeks with thoughts and dreams of her constantly in his mind. Having her this close to him in the flesh and not a dream was making him hot with need for her.

Mercedes thought she would be filling uncomfortable with Sam intently staring at her face. It was if he was committing every feature she had to his memory. The disconcerting feeling left her when she could see in his eyes an answering desire to her burgeoning passions. She took the initiative and lowered her mouth to his in a kiss that was soft, sweet, and gentle.

Sam was okay with Mercedes' innocent kiss until she rubbed her tongue across his lips and began to use her teeth to slightly nibble on his lower lip mirroring his actions from earlier. And just like earlier, he opened his mouth and couldn't stop his tongue from entering her mouth. Sam began to rub his hands all over her upper body as he savored her mouth enjoying the feel of her teeth with his tongue and making sure no part of her mouth went unexplored.

Sam tried to go slow, but it was impossible soon his hips were mimicking his tongue as he began to make love to her drawing his tongue deeper in her mouth as he groped for the bottom of her purple T-shirt. He only paused in kissing her to remove the shirt over her head. He then began to suck on her neck not able to get enough of the taste of her skin. She smelled so good and taste so good wherever his tongue swept across her skin; she was just so addictive that he couldn't get enough of her.

Mercedes couldn't stop her heart from beating so wildly. She could hear her deep breaths as she struggled to regulate her breathing. Sam had given her so much pleasure that it eclipsed the tiny pain that she had felt earlier. She didn't stop him when he laid down on top of her surrounding her with his warmth as he ran his fingers through her hair bringing her face towards his so he could lazily kiss her.

"That was amazing and long overdue." Sam whispered into her ear when he could breathe again lifting his heavy body off of hers.

"Un huh," was all Mercedes was capable of saying as she looked at Sam. His handsome face basked in pleasure made her wonder what she looked like.

"I say Round Two needs to happen after I run you a bath in your Jacuzzi." Sam said feeling himself begin to harden as he pictured Mercedes soaking in her bathtub.

"You are going to have to carry me around tomorrow if we do Round Two because I doubt I can walk straight now." She admitted to him with a shy smile on her face.

"I promise to be gentle if we do anything else tonight. You are just so addictive and apparently I can't get enough of you." Sam admitted drawing her eyes to his erection as he pointed out his problem to her.

"Well, I am sure that we are intelligent enough to think of creative ways to help you with your addiction." Mercedes told him giggling when he picked her up in the fireman's lift and carried her towards the bathroom.

* * *

Mercedes sat there while on the phone talking to Tina and stared at her two doggies fighting with each over a toy. Tina was so nosey asking if Sam had taken her advice and kissed her as soon as he got home last night. "Not that it is any of your business, but yes we kissed."

"I can tell by your voice that you two did more than kiss. Did he go down on you? Inquiring perverted minds have to know the details." Tina said trying to figure out why Mercedes was being so reticent in sharing. She told Mercedes everything about her sex life and had even bought Mercedes her first vibrator and gave her an instructional video on how to use it.

"Tina that is so personal, but yes he did go down on me as well as put it on me so good that even after soaking in my Jacuzzi last night and this morning, I am still a little tender and not walking with my normal gait. Is that enough information for you?"

"Thank you God, Mercedes finally got some! Yes! Yaaaas! Yaaaas! Tell me it was good tell me that those puffy lips of his gave you oral pleasure even if his dick didn't do a great job because of your virginity."

"Tina, I swear I don't know what I am going to do with you. I will just tell you this, and this will be all I have to say about last night, and that it was so good that he gave me not one not two but three orgasms." Mercedes said unable to keep the smile off her face at those memories of sexual bliss she experienced in Sam's arms.

"Hold the phone. I am glad you saved yourself for marriage girl because your description of your first time is the first time every girl deserves to have; those limped dick dudes you dated in past would have left you hanging, and you would have had to pleasure yourself. Now that the annulment is definitely not an issue are you two going to try to make your marriage work?"

"I don't know Tina. We barely know each. Sexual compatibility is a big part of marriage, but not the only part, and I don't want to rush myself into any long term commitment with Sam. We obviously have communication problems, and I think that it is best that we take the time to see how things go, because I really don't want to have my heart broken by him."

"Well, you won't know unless you try it, and besides I think you and Sam are the perfect couple. Mike and Sam are becoming best friends, and you and I are best friends, and I think it would be cool if we could be those couples who go on vacation together and not have issues when we want to do things together because one of us doesn't like the other's spouse. I am just going to put it out there in the universe that any couple who has as much sexual chemistry as the two of you are destined to be together."

"Tina, you need to slow your roll and stop planning our joint vacations. Sam and I married, had sex for the first time, and now we are becoming friends, so I think our next step is to date and get to know each better as potential partners and not just as friends."

"Girl, you and he are doing everything backwards."

"Well, you know the two of us and can you see us doing anything normal considering the way we met and why we had to marry in the first place?"

"Whatever Mercedes," Tina said in an exasperated tone.

"Whatever Tina you know you love me. I better go, I have to get dress and meet Sam at his office. We are leaving from there and going to a restaurant. Sam wanted to drive my car so badly that I agreed to pick him and let him drive my baby, so this might very well mean I am falling in love with him."

"You won't even let me nor Mike drive your car, and you trusting him to drive your car after the way the two of you met, let's me know that I don't think you are falling in love, because I know you are already there."

"I refused to listen to you and Stacie telling me I am in love. I think I would know if I loved Sam or not. I wish I could talk more, but I have to get ready. I will call you tomorrow okay." Mercedes told her friend as they exchanged goodbyes, and she began to get ready for their date.

As soon as Mercedes walked into the building, she couldn't explain the prickles that went up and down her spine. She knew that it was probably because she feared running into Noah Puckerman. As she made her way towards Sam's office, she was delighted to find Brittany alone at her desk. Brittany told her that Sam was in meeting, and that he had told her when she came to wait for him in his office. Mercedes did just that, and now thirty minutes later, she felt as if she had been waiting forever when she heard the knob on the door began to turn.

"Oh, Sam I have moved back from New York, and I have a little lacey surprise for you."

Mercedes turned around in Sam's chair and looked at the woman who had just entered Sam's office. She had on six inch stiletto heels, a trench coat, and apparently not much else underneath the coat. The woman stared at Mercedes as she stared at her, and Mercedes could tell that she had caught the woman off guard.

"Well, you certainly are not my Sammy Sam."

"No, I most definitely am not. Who in the hell are you?"

"Oh, I'm Marley, Sam's girlfriend—well one of them anyways. I was the only one allowed the title although he has dated a lot of women since I moved to New York because of my modeling career. One can't book a lot of jobs in this little backwater."

"I see." Mercedes said not able to stop comparing herself to the woman standing before her and noticing that what Noah said last night was true. This woman was her complete opposite.

"So, who are you?" Marley asked wondering why Sam wasn't in his office. Noah had called her and told her Sam was willing to do whatever it took to get her back and that she was to come straight to his office after he heard she was in town visiting her mom from his wife Rachel.

Before she could answer, Sam came into the office and the first word out of his mouth was "Marley."

Seeing that Sam wasn't going to introduce her to his 'girlfriend', Mercedes gathered her belongings and walked towards the door where Sam stood. "I was just leaving." She told the model before looking Sam in the eye and telling him, "I will see you tomorrow."

"Merce…" Sam began only to stop when he saw her turn her back to him and leave his office in a fit of anger.

She looked from behind at them, and said in a snarky voice, "Please take Mallory out to dinner, I heard you had reservations that I am sure they are about to cancel because you are already so late." Mercedes purposefully called Marley by the wrong name and let Sam know that their dinner date was definitely cancelled. She thought anger and being petty was a better response than crying. She would not cry over Sam Evans.

She could feel his eyes on her as she got on the elevator. She didn't care that he didn't run behind her. Oh who was she kidding? He didn't chase after her because he had already hit it and quit it with her and was going back to his girlfriend who accepted his philandering ways. No way in hell was she sharing a man. She was going to divorce him as quickly as she could. She didn't care how long it took, but she was ending her marriage to Sam Evans. She hated Sam Evans. Hating him was better than hating herself.

* * *

 **I promise to resolve this hot mess immediately in the next chapter, so don't think I am heartless to leave you hanging like this for long; you know I won't let Noah's plan to break them up succeed. Sam and Mercedes are both smart despite their actions, they will get it together.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I just want to co-sign whoknowstv's review. I did use creative liberty in rewriting Chapter 7 because the villain in Tickled Pink wasn't drunk, so I had to do a quick pre-write to make Puckerman's attack on Mercedes in her home plausible. Also, I was like whoa, Mercedes having sex with Sam so soon without a condom my philosophy is no glove no love, and for the last part of that previous chapter, I have no excuse, but I did work like the devil to get Chapter Eight ready for you ASAP to remove the bad taste of the ending of Chapter Seven. See I am not too cruel and unusual. I will never leave you hanging loves. This chapter has less smut, but still is rated M, a lot more conversation and less action happens which is sorely needed. Thanks again for all the love you show this story, and if you ever get a chance to read the original you know that most of the wtf moments do not come from me so I am grateful that I can't take the credit.**

Chapter Eight

Sam sat in the dark house waiting on Mercedes to come home. For some reason the place felt empty even though he had McConaughey curled up against his lap and Chewie stretched out against his feet. He couldn't stop his mind from retracing the day's events. That morning started out awesome with him and Mercedes giving each other pleasure in the shower why her Jacuzzi bath filled up. They had agreed to go on a date, and he was walking on top of the world.

Then everything came crashing down because of a model who didn't love him, but loved his money had came down from New York to be with him uninvited. When he remembered the hurt look in Mercedes' eyes which he vowed to never put there again and failed miserably which caused him to stay there standing like a deer in a car's headlights, Sam couldn't help but disturb the dogs and get up to fix himself another drink.

As he moved to the bar to fill up his glass, he couldn't help but notice the flowers that he had told Brittany to order, so that they would be ready before he left with her on their first date. A smart man would have put them in water, but he had no energy to do anything not even to eat, to watch TV, and not even to work. All he could think about was how he must be the loser his mother always said he was. She told him that he would never amount to anything good. He thought he had disproved her with his success, money, and expensive car, but the old hag was right. He was lonely, and all these years he didn't know what he was missing until Mercedes came into his life. And like the true loser he was, he messed it all up.

As he was downing his third glass of scotch, he heard the door opening, and he could see Mercedes trying to quietly enter her own home. When she walked through the foyer and glanced through the room, she saw him, and Sam could see the pure hatred glaring from her eyes.

"I thought you would still be out on your date with Marla."

"I didn't go out with Marley, and you would have known this if you would have deigned yourself to answer the calls that I know flooded your phone."

"I was too busy to answer my phone."

"So where were you? I know you were not at Mike's and Tina's or your parents' houses."

"What gives you the right to question where I was, and anyways how do you know I wasn't at those places?"

"Because I called them and when I finally reached Tina, she told me not to worry."

"You called my parents' and my friends' houses?" Mercedes was shocked. She thought since Sam hadn't left and chased after her that he didn't care about her leaving him earlier with Marley.

"Yes, I knew that you were upset, and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I figured you would go to Tina and vent to her."

"I had no intention of going to see Tina."

"Well I asked Tina to call Kurt, and he hadn't heard from you, and I called Stacie, and she said she hadn't heard from you either. By the way, she says you owe her a phone call."

"I went to see Judge Washington, and I told her that I was willing to serve the thirty days in jail."

"Why would you do a crazy thing like that?"

"Because I would rather lose my reputation and the remnants of my career than to stay married to a man who was willing to take my virginity and then hook back up with his _girlfriend_."

"I may be a lot of things, but I am not a liar, Mercedes. While I am married to you, I promised to be faithful, and I fully intend to live up to my word. The Evans family may not be old moneyed and famous, but my father instilled in all of his children the importance of being honest. I am not a cheater. I have been cheated on; I know how it feels. After being with you last night and even this morning, a man would have to be crazy to cheat."

"Yeah right," he heard Mercedes say and felt the heavy weight that was on chest increase in size.

"I am going to be honest with you and tell you what I did last night after watching you fall asleep."

"I am not sure that I like the sound of what you are saying, and I am more than a little reticent to hear about what you did."

"I looked you up on Google."

"Wow, Samuel Evans, you had to be the millionth person in the world to do that."

"I learned about your career as a song writer, back up singer, and how you rose to fame, your involvement in charities, your work as a mentor, and the one thing that stuck out to me the most was pictures taken of you three days apart. In one picture your hair is curly and almost to the middle of your back, and the next picture is of you with straight hair that is cut in a very short hairstyle."

"What's the point of all this Sam?"

"The point is I talked to Tina, and I found out why you cut all your gorgeous hair off before I googled you, but I didn't realize the drastic change in your appearance until I saw the pictures, and no woman that I have known would have done what you did. You are unlike any female that I have ever met."

"How many glasses of alcohol have you had?"

"Not enough to be drunk. If you hadn't come home when you did I probably would have stayed up until the bottle was emptied. After just two glasses I was in the wallowing stage. Wallowing in the fact that I am the biggest idiot in the world for not chasing after you and kissing you in front of Marley and telling her to hit the road because I don't want her, I want you."

"What do you want me to say to that Sam? That you are right…It doesn't change the fact that you hurt me by your actions."

"I know I hurt you, and I don't know what I want you to say, but I do know once you left that I kicked Marley's ass to the door, she knew we had broken up before she went to New York, and I haven't had any communication with her at all. Her showing up at my office dressed like she was, was totally inappropriate, and I made Brittany swear to have her picture circulated, and everyone knows to not let her in the building or call security if they see her. I didn't care to hear her explanations; all I cared about was the hurt that I saw in your eyes. It pierced me to the deep. I don't know the right thing to say or do at this point. I am being open and honest and trying to communicate with you. I just know that I never want to feel the way I felt when you walked out my office again."

"Well, it looks as if you are stuck with me because Judge Washington wouldn't let me go to jail. After I told her why I wanted out, she said, 'Girl that is what marriage is about. You think you the only woman who has had to learn how to deal with a man with a wandering eye. Men's eyes wander, you just have to suck it up and be the freak in the sheets he needs so he doesn't crave another woman's loving. I won't sentenced you two to jail unless you come with me with proof that your man is cheating, he comes with proof that you are cheating on him, or you two spend more than the allotted days a part. Now get the hell out of my chambers.'"

"I won't ever cheat on you, and if you decide to return to your career, then I will miss days of work and go with you; so, it looks like you are stuck with me."

"You know that I won't cheat on you, so unless I am driven to the point of not being able to look at your face anymore, then I guess you are stuck with me as well." Mercedes reluctantly admitted.

"Mercedes if we are going to stay together than surely you know that I won't be able to survive without touching you, kissing you, and making love to you."

Mercedes didn't want to admit that she didn't want him to resist their pull of sexual attraction that they had for each other, but he was being honest with her, and she had to be honest with him. "I wouldn't want you to stop Sam. I think that is what hurt so bad today thinking it meant so little to you when it meant a lot to me."

"I never meant to hurt you. I would rather do harm to myself than to cause you to hurt the way I have."

It was something about the timber of his words and the look in eyes that made Mercedes admit, "I believe you Sam."

"Will you give me a third chance Mercedes Evans?"

"I think that you should use your tongue and its other brand of persuasive skills in convincing me to do so," Mercedes said to him saucily lowering her tone and licking her lips while doing so.

"Oh do you want my tongue to kiss your soft and succulent lips, or do you want me to use my tongue to lick your Hershey kisses shaped nipples, or how about if my tongue licks all the way down your body until I get to lap up the addictive taste of you from your tight little treasure cove."

"Oh Sam you should have stopped while you were ahead, treasure cove. Have you been reading Stacie's romance novels?"

"Yep, she gave me several of them. She told me my game was weak, and I needed all the help in the world to woo you."

"Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her, but you don't need any help from any romance novel. You satisfy me just fine and believe me when I say that you satisfy me so much that I am now slightly wet in anticipation of you doing the things that you do so well."

"How about I channel my inner Felvis and tell you that a little less talking is required now and a lot more action."

"You crazy man how bout I keep channeling your favorite female rap group and say yo yo yo yo baby-pop, yeah, you come here gimme a kiss, betta make it fast or else I'm gonna get pissed."

Sam was enjoying their playful banter until she start rapping Salt-N-Pepa's "Push It." He couldn't stop himself from grabbing her up into his arms and giving her the kiss she so playfully rapped about it.

Mercedes was so carried away with the kiss that she almost forgot her original intentions for returning home and that was to make sure the dogs were fed and walked. "Sam, wait, I need to feed and walk the dogs."

"I have already done that unfortunately I was missing you so much I forgot to put them back in their room. They were here keeping me company."

"Oh, Sam now I really have to tell you taking care of and loving on my doggies makes me want to do something that I thought I would never do." Mercedes admitted before she told him, 'get up on this' and danced her way back into his arms.

Sam didn't even try to stop himself from grinding into her body as she taunted him with getting up on her. He wanted to get on her and imprint himself on her so much that she wouldn't think of leaving him again. These thoughts ran through his head as he cherished her mouth kissing her with unrestrained passion as he felt her arms go around his neck. Her lips instantly parted allowing his tongue inside of her mouth.

Mercedes couldn't keep the soft sigh from leaving her mouth when Sam lessened the intensity of his kiss and gently parted her lips with his tongue. She wanted the kiss to never end but she felt Sam's erection growing in length, and she wanted nothing more to fill the void that she now felt between her legs.

Sam wasn't going to let her go, and he didn't want to scare her so he told her, "Tonight you are mine." He picked up her carried her to the sofa and listened to her cries and pleas begging him to possess her as he began to suck on her clit, then immediately afterwards using his fingers to stimulate her C-spot for about a minute before he began sucking back on her clitoris. Sam played with her level of arousal heightening her pleasure by stopping and starting to the point that she was hoarse with her demands for him to take her.

Finally she took matters in her hand and rode him hard after getting adjusted to mounting him with help from Sam, and she experienced one orgasm that way before Sam flipped them over pushing her knees into her chest which the slight pain on her swollen breast brought a different type of pleasure as he pounded into her causing her to have multiple orgasms from sensory overload. Mercedes almost fainted from the intensity of the pleasure that Sam had given her. She didn't even try to walk to bed. Sam had to carry her and get some disposable washcloths and tenderly bathe her because she was too exhausted to take a bath or shower. She fell asleep in his arms thinking maybe just maybe she could truly give him another chance.

On the Fourth of July, Sam held Mercedes' hand as they walked to the front of his family's home. They were as always the last to arrive, and it was all Sam's fault. Mercedes had asked him for help with zipping up her red dress. Sam had done the opposite, and just the memory of their quickie had him regretting not calling his mother and telling her he was sick. He told Mercedes this as they walked towards the door.

Mercedes' gave Sam the side-eye. Ever since they had started having sex, it was if she had released a sexual beast. Sam was not a candidate for Viagra because it seemed like the more sex they had, the more he needed. She being new to having a sexual relationship didn't realize too that the more sex she had with Sam the more her body craved him as well. They were both looking forward to going Vegas for about three weeks. Sam had been working hard to surprise her by taking off of his day job for their unofficial honeymoon. He worked so hard to be able to take the time off, so she wouldn't have to be flying in and out of Vegas. He would work on his comic books while she was busy rehearsing and getting ready for her shows. They would both have time to go to her house in California, and to any other place that they wanted to go.

Even when Mercedes was judging him and giving him the side-eye that she was famous for, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to kiss her. "Wouldn't you rather be home with the dogs eating pizza and watching eighties movies with me?" Sam asked trying to distract himself from reaching down and kissing her.

"Sam, you better stop boy, you are turning me on."

"I like you turned on." Sam told her as he reached over to see if the door was unlocked. It wasn't, so he stepped into the house. The first person he saw was his brother Stevie.

"Nice of you two to finally join us in our misery," Stevie said then focused on Mercedes in her red dress, "You look smoking hot and sexy as usual. Whenever you get tired of Sam and began to desire someone who is just entering his sexual prime; let me know." He said giving her wink and a low growl.

"Not that it is any of your business, but your brother is all the man that I need and even if he wasn't I am not into being a cougar; I am more attracted to cat daddies, so keep your flirtations to your own generation little brother."

"Oh, you wound me Mercedes. I will be as old as Sam in a decade or two; I just ask that you wait for me." Stevie told Mercedes before turning to his brother, "You are one lucky SOB to have a wife that's hot, loyal, and smart. I think God broke the mold when he made her."

"That He did. Now where is everyone else?" Sam asked trying to keep Stevie from ogling his wife assets that were on full display. No matter what she wore, her curves always made her look sexy.

'They are out back on the patio. Mercedes' mom is out there complaining about how their fundraiser is ruined because their event planner broke her leg on a skiing trip in St. Moritz."

"Just fine and dandy the drama queen that is my mother will make this day miserable for everyone, if I don't go find a solution to shut her mouth up."

"I doubt you will be able to help. They have called everyone and no one is willing to take on the project at this late date. Can I get you two, something to drink?" Stevie asked looking for an excuse to get a few sips of alcohol himself.

"Red wine for me and please just bring me the entire bottle. I am sure I am going to need it to keep me from embarrassing my father."

"You can pour me some Scotch, Stevie." Sam said thanking his brother but knowing full well why Stevie wanted to be in charged of giving out alcohol. Sam led Mercedes out into the backyard.

"Oh there is my gorgeous daughter. You are absolutely glowing darling, and my handsome son-in-law." Mercedes' mom gushed as she saw them; she was almost certain that the two would find some excuse to not be there today. They tended to avoid her presence the most.

Stacie rolled her eyes and almost caused Mercedes to laugh. "Hey you two," she greeted them and hugged Mercedes because it had been a while since they last saw each other or talked.

Sam pulled out a chair for Mercedes, and then sat beside her as he noticed the dads were talking to each other, so he nodded his head in their direction before focusing on his mother who was complaining about how their Christmas in July fundraiser was going to be a bust.

"So, you all are short an event planner." Mercedes commented before offering them a solution.

"Yes and all the good ones are too busy. We are doomed." Mercedes mother continued to be overdramatic.

"Would you like for me to call Kurt?"

Both women turned to Mercedes and stared at her in shocked awe. Mary was the first to recover and asked, "Kurt, as in the Kurt Hummel?"

"Yes, that is his full name."

Mercedes mentioned this Kurt a lot, but he still hadn't been introduced to the man that his wife spent a lot of time with. "I take it that Kurt is a big deal." He said looking at his mother-in-law's reaction.

"Samuel, Kurt Hummel is the best event planner in not only Ohio but also the entire eastern United States. He began his career in New York only to have to move back to Lima because of his father's heart condition. He is usually booked up months and often a year in advance. He has always declined to do any of my events because he is so busy."

Mercedes had threatened and warned Kurt to not work with her insufferable mother, and that is why he had declined working with her. After hearing her stories, Kurt was more than willing to agree to Mercedes' demands.

"Mercedes, darling why didn't you tell me you knew Kurt?" Her mother asked.

"Well Tina and I did go to school with him, and he asked me to sing at his first commitment ceremony to that horrible ferret looking guy he hooked up with, and then there was the guy he attended college with in New York, before he finally married and divorced his husband a Broadway star. It seems that their long distance relationship couldn't work with Kurt choosing to take care of his father in Lima, and Blaine being unwilling to take a sabbatical from during his current play on the Great White Way."

Sam was relieved in hearing that Kurt was gay. He had to admit that he had been jealous whenever she admitted to hanging around him, and he often wondered why she hadn't introduced Kurt to him. Sam could breathe easier knowing that this was one man that he wouldn't have to check for lusting after his wife.

"There is no way that he will be free with such short notice, Mercedes." Melanie Jones insisted.

Stevie came out with the drinks, and Mercedes began to sip hers before looking at her mother and Mary while she put her drink down and grabbed her phone from her purse. "I can't promise you anything, but Kurt owes me big from all the help I have been giving him this summer, plus I am paying him well for my Think Pink Gala next year." She called his number on speed dial looking at her mother's reaction with a smirk on her face.

"Mercedes has him on speed dial, if she can get him everything will be simply amazing Melanie," Mary said hoping that Mercedes' connection with Kurt would be what they needed.

Sam just lifted his drink and glanced toward his sister. He knew she would be just like him, and he saw her looking at him as he held Mercedes' hand. He didn't know how much she knew, but he could tell she knew their relationship had changed. Sam had to admit that he had never slept as well as he had slept while sleeping in Mercedes' bed and waking up with her in his arms. He was now in a committed relationship, and he enjoyed every aspect of it.

Stacie couldn't help but stare at Sam and Mercedes. They were both happy. She hadn't seen her brother look as relaxed, content, and in love as he did today. She had known Mercedes was in love with her brother. Mercedes wore her emotions on her sleeve. Sam because of their mother tended to hide his feelings. She was happy to see her brother looking at Mercedes the way her daddy looked at her mother. Finally, she could enjoy her summer and not have to worry about the two of them. She thought to herself.

"Kurt, how are you doing on this lovely Fourth of July?" Mercedes asked as soon as Kurt answered his phone. After pausing to hear about his fabulous Alaskan cruise, she asked him for a favor. "I know this is extremely short notice, but the event planner for my mother-in-law's Christmas in July fundraiser has broken her leg while skiing." She paused hearing Kurt curse her out saying no effing way basically. "Come on Kurt, I promise to pay you double and give you four tickets to my Vegas show which begins on the 8th with accommodations at Caesar's. You and your dad can both bring a guest. You remember how he was saying that he would love to hear me sing again." After listening to Kurt as he continued to rant and rave then eventually capitulate she said, "Thank you Kurtsie I owe you big time. Why don't you come by for dinner sometime soon, and you can me my gorgeous specimen of a husband then?" Another pause, "Awesome, I will see you then hugs and kisses to you as well," she said as she finally ended the call. Kurt could be longwinded when riled.

"Alright Kurt has agreed to save the day, and he will be contacting your charity group on Monday. So if you need to schedule a quick meeting with your cronies do so, and as soon as you get a time, I will text Kurt to make sure he is available to take your call. My suggestion to you both is to let Kurt have his way, don't talk, but just go along with him. He has never messed up an event, and if you irritate him mother, I know he will quit and leave you hanging."

"We leave on the seventh, so it also looks like Monday will be the evening that we have Kurt over for dinner. Is that okay with you?" Mercedes asked looking at Sam.

"Whatever you want darling. You know I would do anything for you." Sam said looking into her eyes forgetting they had an audience. When she thanked him, it took all his will power to not lean over and kiss her. He couldn't wait until this barbecue was over so he could spend time with his amazing wife alone.

* * *

Mercedes woke up and immediately looked at her clock and was surprised to see that it was after 11:30 pm, and Sam wasn't in bed. She got out of the bed and grabbed the first thing she saw to put on which was one of Sam's shirts. She went to look for him and was surprised to find him in his old room packing his suitcase.

"Sam we don't leave until early Tuesday morning. Why are you up packing at this time? Tomorrow is going to be busy enough with you going in to work for the last time this month and with Kurt coming over for dinner. You need your rest."

Sam looked up and the sight of her in his shirt was doing dangerous things to his libido. She looked so sexy. "I couldn't sleep thinking about all that has been going on." Today had been the required dinner at his parents' house which he felt was totally unnecessary since they had just had the barbecue the day before, but at least Mercedes' mom wasn't there, his own mother was more than enough.

After the dinner, Tina and Mike had invited them over for drinks since they wouldn't be seeing each other for three weeks, Sam and Mercedes had spent more time talking than drinking, and it wasn't until nine that they had left the other couple with promises to keep in touch. They had both taken showers and crashed into bed too tired to do anything else. And an hour later, Sam had woke up and couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard he tried.

"Well, you are about to leave everything for almost three weeks in Vegas, I could see why you would have a lot on your mind. I think Stacie and Stevie are ecstatic about house-sitting and dog-sitting though. I just hope my house is still standing when we get back."

"If it was Stevie then you would have just cause to worry, but Stacie will make sure the dogs are fed and walked and no wild parties are thrown."

"I think that is funny that out of all three of you, your youngest sister is the most responsible. She is truly an old soul."

"Honestly, I have grown up plenty since meeting you. I only play my rap music at a respectful volume now that I am an old married man." Sam teased Mercedes with this admission.

"I think the only good thing that has resulted in our marriage is that you don't come blaring and speeding through my neighborhood the way you used to. With you living in the community now, I have no use for the one hundred softballs that I bought." She said teasing him in return.

"You know you loved my music. I saw you grooving to Rob Base's "It's Take Two" just the other day. The exercising you have been doing to get ready for your concert and vocal training is amazing. I don't know if I am ready to be Mercedes Jones' husband when we go to Vegas. I am more than a little in awe of what you do."

"Well, I normally would be in Vegas preparing right now for the show, but my choreographer sent me videos of my background dancer performing the routines. There is nothing new added to the show that we haven't done before in past shows, but I wanted to retrain my muscles for the grueling dancing that I will be doing. Skyping with my background vocalists and arranging all the details hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be. We will spend Tuesday doing a dress rehearsal making sure the costumes fit, hair and make-up will take the longest, so please get used to seeing me as little as possible the day before and of the show."

"I am going to use this time to begin my new comic The Extreme Stories of Pretty Petite. It is about this small and curvy girl who is mistreated by her mother a research scientist who is obsessed with perfection. The mother makes a serum and begins to illegally experiment by dosing her daughter with the concoction. Instead of making the girl perfect, the side-effects cause the daughter to gain extra sensory perception and other psychic abilities. When she figures out what her mom is doing, the heroine uses mind control to make her mom forget the experimentation and while she is erasing her mom's mind an ability she hasn't been trained to do, she causes her mom to have a stroke which results in her mom developing short-term amnesia." Sam paused before continuing.

"Feelings of guilt overwhelm her, and she thinks she's a monster, so she is committed to finding a way to undo the harm that she has done. She runs away from home and uses her research skills to find a mentor, picture a female version of Charles Xavier from X-Men, who is able to help her in honing her skills. The only cost to her helping Ms. Pretty is that she asks if the young girl would join her team of young people who covertly use their psychic abilities as operatives. Pretty agrees and she is soon befriended by a character who looks a lot like Tina, and becomes enemy with a roguishly handsome young man who will look like a cross between me and Stevie who will eventually become her love interest of course, and Kurt and Stacie along with a Mike wannabe will round out the cast. I am including Puckerman in as the first villain. It is way that I can get satisfaction at getting back at the loser for being a shitty friend."

"Am I correct in assuming Pretty Petite will look a lot like a famous singer by the name of Mercedes Jones?" Mercedes asked amazed at Sam's storytelling ability.

"You bet, and believe me she will get the satisfaction of kicking Puckerman's ass that we were robbed of. I think my comics are therapeutic for me. I used them as a child to escape my family's dysfunctional behavior, and I admit that I love working on new ideas and making people, who have caused me pain, suffer by the pen and not by the sword." Sam realized why he talked to her that his first villains where almost carbon copies of his mother and Quinn, and his heroes in the past were always males who were more like Batman and Iron Man super players not relationship type men. This was the first time that his main superhero would be female. Mercedes inspired him by her actions with Tina and her forgiving nature to write her as a true superhero that he couldn't help but feature in his current comic.

"I truly believe that what goes around comes around and that Noah Puckerman will get what he deserves someday soon."

"Yeah, part of me wants to let his wife know that he is a cheating bastard to get back at him, but I try to not to let thoughts of that douche bag stay in my mind."

"If he messes with me again, then we will get revenge. The little thing we did to our mothers will be minor to what we end up doing to him, baby." Mercedes told her man.

"Enough about that jerk, let's get some shut eye, I just have a feeling that we are going to need all our energy in entertaining your friend tomorrow night. I would hate for your gorgeous husband to have bags under his eyes."

* * *

 **AN Shorter chapters means quicker updates. Finished this early this morning but had to reread for mistakes. I may make this a double update day if my schedule permits because the next chapter won't be quite as long as I have almost completely abandoned the original story.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately real life has happened, and I won't be able to give this story the justice it deserves. I was up late last night with a family emergency and will continue to have to alter my life to help out because that is what family does. I am going to have to sum up 6 chapters in 2, and say goodbye to this version of Samcedes while cutting out a lot of Kurtcedes. You would have thanked me in the long run because the drama and stupid decisions that these two kept making would have made you curse both of them out equally. This way you get one chapter of stupidity, and the chapter that realization hits and we can have our happily ever after ending. Thank you for your unwavering support of this story. I had fun adapting Tickled Pink to my very own AU Glee universe while using your reviews to help guide and shape the story. So my appreciation of you is shown by adding your two cents in this chapter. This chapter contains many things, but the light is coming around the corner.**

Chapter Nine

Sam's opinion of Vegas shows after spending two weeks there was simple, too many bright lights, much too noisy, and too many people lusting after his wife's flesh. Nothing could have prepared him for Mercedes' shows. Her concerts may have begun at 8:00pm, but she was up at the crack of dawn in turn waking him up as she prepared for her grueling schedule. He would go back to sleep when she would leave for the Colosseum at Caesars, and he would wake up around ten for breakfast and begin to write and draw for his comic book. He would stay in her condo until four and meet Mercedes for an early light protein meal at five thirty which had become his new lunch time. After that Mercedes would be in wardrobe and hair and make-up until it was time for her to meet and greet special guests before she hit the stage.

The first week he stayed with her until the show was over around 11, and then they would leave the hotel around midnight and eat dinner around one a.m. and then unhealthily hit the bed not long after. The next day if it was a Wednesday performance meant they could sleep late and spend the entire day in bed if they wanted, and they did do that. But after the Saturday performances, they would order room service and spend the night in the hotel, and Mercedes had to do it all over again the next day on Sunday. This past Monday they had went to Mercedes' home in California. She took him to her favorite restaurants, and it finally felt is if they were on their honeymoon, until their return to Vegas early Wednesday morning, and the cycle repeated itself.

It quickly got to the point that he knew most of the words to "Colorblind", "Leave a Light On", "Happy Part Two", "Hope in the Darkest Hour", "How to Survive", "I Love Me", "Victor not Victim", and his personal favorite "Hell to the No" because she rapped in the song. Some of the songs she performed were songs she wrote for other artists, and he was not familiar with them. He could tell that some of these songs were more designed to disguise weak vocals with excellent music. On those songs, he would dance around or watch her shake her famous behind. She had written songs for Beyonce that she performed as well and those would be the songs she would sing last and do the most choreography on. She told Sam she designed the set list so she wouldn't strain her voice or be too tired to dance at the end, so saved the most energetic/ dance oriented songs for last.

Now it was their last weekend in Vegas, and Mercedes was drained. She had spent the week running interference between Kurt and her mother for their July 25th Christmas in July spectacular, as well as going to Hawaii with Sam which ended up being a wasted trip because they spent the entire time in bed which they could have done for free in Vegas, but Sam wanted to be romantic but his desire for her outweighed his desire to see the islands. Mercedes was too exhausted from the shows to want to do much that first night in Waikiki anyway. So, when Sam began his early morning seduction of her, she hadn't fought him off.

As soon as they got back to Vegas, she had several messages and missed calls from Tina. When she called Tina and found out that her best friend was pregnant. Mercedes was filled with mixed emotions. On one hand she was overjoyed with her friend expanding their family, but on the other hand she was worried if the cancer came back. Tina had the same worries, but being in Vegas when her friend needed her in Lima made that week unbearable. She couldn't wait until Sunday was over. They planned to fly back Monday to Lima, and Mercedes knew she was going to see her best friend as soon as possible.

The only part that Mercedes did not look forward to returning to Lima and being with her best friend was having to listen to Tina talk about her hopes that Team Samcedes would have a baby, so their babies could be best friends. Having Melanie Jones as a mother had convinced Mercedes that everyone wasn't meant to be a mother, and she knew that she wasn't ready to embrace motherhood any time soon. Some might say she put her career first, but she truly didn't want to be a single mom trying to be a successful artist when she knew how important being a parent was, and she wasn't stupid to believe that Sam would want their marriage to last any longer than the court appointed time.

When she asked Sam about why he didn't use a condom with her the first two occasions they made love, she was shocked to realize that he didn't even realize he hadn't. Sam promised that he had never had sex without protection before, and he had his doctor fax her, his last test's results which he had taken at his last check-up a month prior. Although both of them were clean and Mercedes was on the pill to regulate her period, she still thought they should use condoms as a back-up. So, they were hopefully guarded against an unwanted pregnancy.

She didn't tell Tina any of this because Tina would have cursed her out if she had found out that Mercedes had unprotected sex with Sam, and she didn't want to hear her friend deliver her some home truths. Although Sam was an 80s rap music addict, Tina and Mercedes were 90s music fanatics, and they loved TLC. Left-Eye wore a condom over her left eye, and both of them swore that they would never had sex without protection unless they were in a committed relationship, knew their partner's sexual history, and saw tests results. Mercedes who knew she was saving herself for marriage never worried about not fulfilling her part of the pact. However, even though she was married to Sam, he was a virtual stranger, and she should have been more careful with her health.

Sitting in hair and make-up gave her too much spare time to think of these things. She really needed to be preparing herself for her next to the last concert in Vegas before February. Mercedes reminded herself changing her focus to her present. Tomorrow night she would be dedicating and performing a song she had written about Sam and her audience would get to hear it before anybody else, and she was excited and nervous about this. She began to hum the melody of "Your Touch" as she sat there patiently waiting for the last piece of weave to be curled before she was to go to the meet and greet.

Mercedes was shocked when she entered her dressing room to see not the fans that she thought were waiting on her, but Tina, Stacie, Dwight, and Mike. "What are you all doing here? Tina is safe for you to travel? Why didn't anybody tell me you all were coming?" Mercedes couldn't keep the questions from falling out of mouth, and when she noticed Sam standing behind everyone with a smirk on his face, she knew he had kept their visit a secret from her.

"I begged Sam to get me a ticket for your show so that I can come hear you sing live, but he told me that it was your honeymoon and that I couldn't come stay with you guys. So, I asked him about your last night here and could I come then, and he reluctantly agreed. However, mom did not think it was safe for a rising high school senior to be in Vegas without adult supervision. She knew that Mercedes would be busy with the show, and she didn't trust Sam to look after me, like I need a babysitter." Stacie said looking at her brother with her eyebrows raised.

"So, that is why I am here. Stacie had her heart set on coming, and I told Mary that I would bring our baby and make sure she doesn't decide to run away and become a showgirl. Also, I get the chance to see my daughter-in-law who I have been missing immensely perform, so it was a win win situation for me." Dwight added before giving Mercedes a gentle hug to not muss her hair or make-up.

"That explains you two, but Tina and Mike, how? Why?" Mercedes once again couldn't complete her questioning as she grabbed Tina and gave her a gentle hug.

"I will let your husband explain that," Mike said looking to Sam who noticed that Mercedes and Tina didn't look like they were going to let each other go any time soon.

"I could tell how much you wanted to be in Lima to be with Tina and Mike, and I know we will be leaving early Monday morning, but you would still worry until you saw her face to face. So, I called and asked Mike if he and Tina had any plans for the weekend, and they both said they didn't. I knew dad and Stacie were coming, so I asked them if they wanted to join them, and Mike said he would talk to Tina and get back with me."

"I had to check with my doctor because my pregnancy is considered high risk, but he couldn't see anything that should prevent me from taking the brief flight here and back to Lima. I let Mike know, and he called Sam and arranged for us to travel with Dwight and Stacie." Tina said releasing Mercedes so that Mercedes could give Mike and Stacie a brief hug.

"Thank you all for coming. I was going to wait to tomorrow to sing a new song that I had written for Sam, but because he was pivotal in getting you all here when I felt so blue to cheer me up, I am going to have to sing it tonight. Please excuse me, I got to go talk to my music director and rearrange some things for tonight's show, but please make yourselves comfortable." Mercedes said almost teary eyed with the love she felt from the comfort she felt in seeing Tina and being around people who truly loved and cared for her because of who she was and not who they wanted her to be.

"Alright everyone, I want to take this time to recognize some special people who have come tonight to support me," Mercedes told her audience. "My best friend since I was in school and the inspiration for several songs for my next album Tickled Pink, Mrs. Tina Cohen Chang and her husband another great friend of mine who is also my lawyer, Mr. Mike Chang joining them are my father-in-law Dwight Evans, and my sister-in-law Stacie Evans. The spotlight shined on them and their locations and the camera panned to them. They are all here to support me because of this wonderful man that I married and who needs to come on stage right now because I am about to serenade with him a song that I was inspired to write just for him."

Sam came from his position behind the stage and joined Mercedes. He sat down on the stool so they could be the same height that she had on stage when she sang slow ballads.

 _Because of You_

 _I can't explain what is happening to me_

 _Words can't express how you make me feel_

 _With you in my life I can find the strength to be_

 _All the women I am, every part of me_

 _Your green eyes they entrance me oh yes they do_

 _Your touch liberates me oh you know that's true_

 _And your smile when you smile makes me realize_

 _That my life is improved because of you_

 _Now the person that I was is a stranger_

 _With you I can now face any danger_

 _Because in your arms I find courage to be_

 _All the woman I am, every part of me_

 _Your green eyes they entrance me oh yes they do_

 _Your touch liberates me oh you know that's true_

 _And your smile when you smile makes me realize_

 _That my life is improved because of you_

Bridge

 _Even though we don't always see things the same_

 _I am never left feeling like I am the blame_

 _You promise to never hurt me again_

 _And this promise you better keep my lover, my friend_

Instrumental break

 _It's like you are a mirror that allows me to see_

 _My strengths, my weaknesses, my insecurities_

 _But you still appreciate me and encourage me to be_

 _All the woman I am, every part of me_

 _Your green eyes they entrance me oh yes they do_

 _Your touch liberates me oh you know that's true_

 _And your smile when you smile makes me realize_

 _That my life is improved because of you_

Mercedes could hear the applause and even Mike and Dwight catcalls because they were so close to the stage, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Sam. She felt so vulnerable expressing some of the many emotions he made her feel. She was actually going to sing a different song, but his actions tonight made her change her mind and she sung "Because of You" because it was suitable for Dwight to hear, and it expressed her appreciation for him.

Sam knew his wife was talented and a gifted performer, but he felt totally unworthy to hear the words in the songs and to know that Mercedes felt that way about him. It was almost if she was in love with him. Who was he kidding, but Quinn and his mom had taught him that he was unworthy of love being just himself and not changing who he was a dorky artist who loved rap music, drinking, and a good time. He liked to work hard and play harder, but that was who he used to be. Had he changed did love make a person change? Was he in love with Mercedes? His heart said devastatingly so, but his mind wanted to convince him that he was not good enough to love her.

But he couldn't tear his eyes away from her face. The way she was looking at him to see if he liked the song that she needed his validation. Sam made a promise to never hurt again and the fact that she mentioned it in the song made him realize that he could hurt her if he didn't get his head on straight. He got up and whispered in her ear, "Thanks baby that was…I am overwhelmed by what that was you see me like I'm a hero, and that's something nobody has ever saw me as." He stopped talking looked into her eyes and was about to give her kiss until he realized where they were.

Mercedes felt as if Sam removed his arm from around her she would melt to the floor. She was grateful he didn't kiss her, or she would have been unable to close the show out. After thanking her fans and wishing them a 'Goodnight Las Vegas' She headed back into her dressing room holding Sam's hand the entire time.

"That was fabulous Mercedes. I hope you don't mind that I taped as much as I could, and that I will be uploading it on my Tumblr page as soon as we get to our room in the hotel." Stacie said after hugging Mercedes.

"She is right, if your parents would have been here tonight, I don't think they would ever mention you being a lawyer again. No lawyer has the impact that you have on others while you use that voice that God has given you. It is truly a gift, and to piggyback off that song you wrote for my son, my life is enriched because you are now in it." Dwight said hugging Mercedes.

Mercedes whose mother had told her constantly that tears were a sign of weakness couldn't stop the flow of tears that came down her cheeks while listening to the words that Dwight had said. As much as she hated to be court ordered to marry, meeting Sam, Dwight, and Stacie and forging relationships had been well worth all the pain and loss of control of her career.

"Mercedes Jones crying it must be a miracle," Tina joked looking at her friend and realizing how much Mercedes had grown as person from being married to Sam.

"Excuse you, you mean Mercedes Jones Evans," Sam corrected using his thumbs to wipe away the tears without smearing her make-up and placing his hand back into hers.

"You all need to go my penthouse suite upstairs and order food from the room service menu. I will be along shortly after I take this make-up off, shower, and change." Mercedes said needing a little time alone to digest all her feelings.

"Babe, do you want me to give them my key? I don't mind staying here and waiting on you." Sam admitted not wanting to let her go.

"I will be fine, and you will only slow me down Romeo. I will only be a few minutes I promise." Mercedes said as she headed to the bathroom. She needed time alone.

Sam reluctantly let her go and watched as he headed to the bathroom, and he took his family through the Colosseum to the hotel, and they rode the elevator to the top floor.

* * *

"Mercedes Jones, what in the hell were you thinking announcing to America that you were married to some white man and dedicating a song to him without running it through me your publicist first?" Santana Lopez was furious from being inundated with questions concerning Mercedes' marriage and her newest song that had social media in a frenzy. TMZ was speculating she was doing a Brandy and was pregnant and was pretending to be married so that the baby would be perceived to be conceived and born in wedlock.

"There better not be a bun in your oven missy." Santana told her after reading what some of the sites were speculating.

"I am not pregnant Santana, and you know the truth that I was sentenced to marry and that was why I had to delay the release of my album and cancel so many opportunities that were overseas or more than three day trips."

"We both agreed that the public cannot know the truth about your marriage or the quick annulment you told me you were getting. Now you introducing your in laws and your husband to an audience at your Vegas show, and your sister-in-law posted all of your little dedication to him including the eye sex that could be noticed on an iPhone quality video. You didn't tell me your husband looked like a male model. All the free publicity we could have gotten from you deciding to put your career back to take care of a friend, finding love in your hometown, and marrying that big lipped guppy could have kept you relevant and hot until you could drop that new album."

"Santana, I don't have time to talk about this with you." Mercedes looked at her clock and knew she had to be downstairs by ten to be ready to leave for the Colosseum.

"You better make time. Your management team has already contacted me, and they are being hounded by Sony to put a release date on your album to go with this momentum. You and your husband are going to have to decide on his taking a sabbatical and being with you because you are going to have to go on the talk show circuit and bring your huge mouthed hubby along with you. Ellen has called and demanded you both make an experience, Wendy Williams wants you both, and Oprah has even called. You know nobody turns down Oprah."

"We will meet with you in Lima sometime this week Santana. I have the show for tonight to worry about, and when I have finished it, Sam and I can discuss what we can and can't do with you. I know you going to call me out my name, but that is the end of this conversation." Mercedes said and then hung up the phone, turned the ringer off, and headed to her shower.

Sam tried to not make a noise but he couldn't help but overhear Mercedes' conversation with her publicist. He didn't want to cause her any more trouble with her career. She had already sacrificed so much. It was time he had a talk with his dad, and he was going to have to sacrifice more than taking three weeks off of his job.

* * *

Back in Lima, Mercedes just wanted to sleep for days. After Sunday night's performance, she didn't bother going to her dressing room to remove her hair and make-up, she went straight to the limo parked outside with Sam and headed to her condo. She fell asleep as soon as Roderick put the vehicle on the road and remained sleeping until Sam with Roderick's help picked her up out the limo, and Sam thanked Roderick for opening the door, carrying their bags, and helping him get on the elevator and using Mercedes' card to open the door before the driver headed back outside.

Sam gently led her into the bathroom and used her make-up removal wipes to gently remove the make-up from her face while he ran her a bath. As soon as the make-up, jewelry, clothing, hosiery, and shoes were removed, the bath had enough water for her to be able to set down in it and be comfortable. Sam continued to cater to his wife adding her favorite bath salts and lavender fragrance. Sam bathed her and let her soaked while he removed his clothes and turned on the shower. When the shower was ready he lifted her into the shower with him so she could rinse off the residue of the bath water. After their joint shower was finished, Sam wrapped Mercedes up in a bath rug and carried her to the bed and laid her down before going back and toweling himself dry and putting on his boxers. He then completely dried Mercedes and put her under the covers of the bed allowing her to sleep naked as he cuddled into her curves.

Mercedes knew without a shadow of doubt that Sam was a good man and worth risking her heart to love after his actions from the night before. Now that they were home and able to relieve Stevie and Stacie of their house-sitting and dog-sitting duties, she was surprised at how different their relationship felt. She could tell that Sam was up to something, but he kept telling her it was a surprise, and she allowed him to keep his little secret as she luxuriated in resting her voice, her mind, and her body.

The rest didn't last too long because one Santana Lopez had to make her presence known sooner rather than later. "Chica I know you don't read what people say about you in the media, but right now you and Sam are receiving a lot of negative press from his camp." Santana told her to explain why she was in Lima on Wednesday evening instead of later in the week like they had planned.

"What camp? I don't have a camp." Sam said looking at the Latina as if she had lost her mind.

"Your people who include your past associates have been painting a picture of you that could ruin everything for my girl. It's okay for a man to be a playboy before marriage society doesn't condemn men who sleep around only women. But your ex-fiancée Quinn Fabray and your supposed best friend have been giving interviews left and right and all of them paint Sam and your marriage in a negative light."

"According to Quinn's interview with _US Weekly_ , 'Sam Evans is a weak man boy ruled by his mother and love for boyish things such as comic books and rap music.' She claims that you were not man enough to marry her because she fell pregnant forcing her to get an abortion and then ending the engagement by taking back the ring that you had given her in good faith. She says that your mother ruled you and made you sue for the ring causing her years of anguish and despair, and she blames you on being the reason why she is still single. That after her experience with you she now has quote commitment issues unquote."

"That's a bunch of lies. Everything about Quinn Fabray is a lie." Sam said.

"So your engagement, her pregnancy, her abortion, and the lawsuit involving the returning of the ring are all lies?" Santana asked looking at him in disbelief.

"No, she just twisted everything. Quinn was pregnant but the baby was not mine, and that is why I ended the relationship. She cheated on me. And the ring given to her was a family ring that stays in the family, so yes my mom made sure she was court-ordered to return it." Sam admitted feeling so low he wanted to disappear.

"Well, we can clear that up, but the things your friend, Noah Puckerman, have said to Jacob Ben Israel are much worse.

"What did the lying no excuse for being have to say?" Mercedes asked still trying to digest all that was happening.

"He said that your marriage is a fraud. That he has prove that Sam has been cheating on Mercedes before you two even married. He says that Sam is not even attracted to Mercedes because she is unlike any of the women he has even dated, and that in fact, Sam has a girlfriend a model named Marley who had recently visited him publicly in his office which shows that Sam doesn't care that Mercedes knows about his infidelities."

"He also states that everybody knows of the long nights the two of you spend apart, and how Mercedes is so hard up for attention from any man that she parades herself around the office turning on all the men just to get her husband's attention, but it doesn't work because Sam avoids being around Mercedes as much as possible. He even insists that Mercedes has had him over her house one night while Sam was out with another woman in order to get revenge. He says that Sam allows him to sleep with all of his women because he never cares that much about them. He admits to sleeping with Quinn, Marley, and every woman that Sam has ever been in a relationship with because Sam loves to shares his hoes with his bro."

"Why would he do this, why would he risk his own marriage by doing this, and why tell these lies that can be proven to be lies?" Sam asked in amazement.

"Because when asked every woman he names admits to sleeping with him, and all of them minus Quinn and Marley said that they were not in a committed relationship with you, so you didn't care if they slept with others or not. Quinn refused to comment which means she is guilty, and Marley burst out in tears saying it was a drunken mistake that she never meant to cheat on Sam or hurt her friend Rachel. I am just saying your relationship is sounding like a Jerry Springer version of _The Notebook_?"

"I promise you both that I have never had any kind of arrangement with Noah Puckerman and anybody I dated. The women I have casually dated; I didn't sleep with, so I couldn't tell them to not sleep with anyone else or felt comfortable about asking them who they slept with. Marley was the last woman I had a sexual relationship with and that ended six months before I even met Mercedes."

Sam paused and had a sudden realization. "I understand why he came after Mercedes now. It is obviously his MO. I bet Quinn was pregnant with his baby. I am so sorry Mercedes. Sorry that I was such a lousy judge of character, sorry that your reputation is being ruined because of my bad decisions. I can't do this anymore." Sam said leaving Mercedes and Santana alone.

"I am not a lie detector but my left breast didn't itch while he was talking, so I think he was telling the truth." Santana admitted looking at Mercedes whose eyes were wide in shock.

"One thing about Sam is he doesn't lie. I just don't know what to do or say. I have never been betrayed that way by both former lovers and a trusted friend the way he has. I have been dumped by Anthony for being too fat, verbally abused by mom for not being a good little lawyer, and I know what rejection feels like, but I can't understand the pain he must be feeling. If he would have never married me, then all of these evil things wouldn't have come out, and he would be better off."

"No one is better off living a lie. He needed to know the cancers he had in his life. It seems to me that this Quinn and Noah suffer from narcissistic personality disorder which is a mental disorder in which people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. I have the same condition, but I see a therapist for my issues. In order for people with untreated NPD to be happy they have to associate with someone with a low self-esteem. Your Sam, if his mother is as bad as your mother, probably has a very low sense of self and was easily manipulated by being in relationships with them. Noah obviously is a sex addict as well, and he needs to get help before he catches a disease and his peter falls off or before his wife cuts it off."

"I see why I pay you all the big bucks. Now I need you to earn that obscene paycheck you make for working for me and tell me what I need to do to turn all this around."

* * *

Mercedes was grateful that with brainstorming with Kurt, Tina, and Santana that they were all able to come up with a plan of exposing the Disgusting Duo as Kurt nicknamed them upon hearing the story. Nobody could do evil like Santana, had the resources that Kurt had, and could plan like Tina. Mercedes knew all the bad press would blow over in a day and everybody who was somebody would be talking about the Pink and White Gala that she would be throwing next year. Mercedes couldn't wait until Sam was told the good news, so she rushed to his office after everything was put in motion, only to be told by Brittany that he was meeting with Dwight. Mercedes went to Dwight'

"Dad, I just can't do this anymore." She heard Sam say.

"Sam, I can't say that I agree with your decision. You need to talk to Mercedes and you two need to make decisions together."

"Dad, did you not see the interview that Quinn gave to the media. Mercedes doesn't deserve the bad publicity from being associated with me, and I can't leave you now in a lurch because of Noah Puckerman's stupidity."

"Sam no one is going to believe those lies, and I know I have to fire Puckerman, and right now we can't be short two interior designers. But we can find a way for you to do the job long distance until I hire someone new."

"Everything has gone straight to hell. I went to mom and Mrs. Jones and they both agreed how our marriage was damaging Mercedes' career and both our families' names, and they got Judge Washington to agree to a dissolution of our marriage without penalty of jail time." Sam said and Mercedes couldn't believe her ears, she ran away from the office for the second time in tears. Sam said he would never hurt again, but hurt people hurt people whether they wanted to or not.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything concerning plot, characters, etc., but most of this chapter comes from my own warp imagination and has little relevancy in the** ** _Tickled Pink_** **universe. Thanks so much for your kind words they really made my day. Here is a special shout-out to all those who have impacted me and the progression of this story. Thanks a trillion monni2215, KeKeMonae, Lamimi25, Jujubee58, shamonticupcake, whoknowstv, krazykay23, myhiggins25, Emestee1, Zini, Triple3JC, and everyone else who faithfully reviewed, read, followed, favorited, and enjoyed the story and gave feedback that was included in the story.** **I haven't had a chance to proofread this monstrosity and will do a quick edit before uploading, and when I revisit the story later I will do a more thorough job at editing. Writing these chapters takes about four hours on a good day and proofing takes an additional hour. I wouldn't be able to invest that much time unless, I read your feedback. So this is dedicated to all the lovers of this crazy tale. Have a safe summer!**

Chapter Ten

"Sam did you see Mercedes?" Brittany questioned her boss as soon as he came back to office not long after leaving his dad.

"I haven't seen Mercedes since I left home from work." Sam replied wondering if Brittany was confused. She sometimes would call Unique Mercedes and Sam hated this with a passion but ignored her knowing that confronting her would only make her behave more erratically than normal. She would say that Lord Tubbington had told her that Unique has the same spirit or some such as Mercedes and that made them interchangeable. Or she would say Mercedes was a mermaid and Unique was a mermaid, too so that made the two divas the same person. Sam never had time for that bull, so he just left it alone as long as she never called Mercedes Unique, and if she did, Sam would fire her ass lickety split.

"Well, she came in looking delicious as always, and I told her you were meeting with your dad, and she went right on to Dwight's office." Brittany said in return looking at him suspiciously.

"Okay, Brittany maybe something came up, and she had to go. I will give her call." Sam said unsure if he could trust Brittany, but he was willing to be safe than sorry, so as soon as he got to his office, he called Mercedes only to get her voicemail. He left a message, and sent her text just to make sure everything was okay.

Sam was finally feeling as if he had some control over his life. He finally manned up and confronted not only his mother but his mother-in-law as well. After hearing what Puckerman and Quinn had done to him, he realized that Mercedes' song "Victor not Victim" was now his personal theme song. He would not be victimized by their actions, but he would rise above. Of course his insecurities and low self-esteem were still a part of him, but he was willing to get the help he needed to be the man that Mercedes needed in her life. His first actions were to go to his mom, and he talked to her and told her if she wanted him to be a part of her life, then she was going to have to show him respect. No more belittling him, whining about his decisions, or trying to manipulate his future like she did with his court ordered marriage.

For the first time Sam held his own in a conversation with her. Refusing to take shit from her, he told her just what she was an emotionally abusive harpy who would end up old and alone if she continued to alienate her children. He continued telling her that although his dad loved her, if it came to her or his kids, Dwight would choose his children, and she knew this. For the first time it seemed as if the blinders were off his mom's eyes, and she had actually listened to him instead of trying to win the argument like the lawyer she was.

When he brought up the negative publicity and how her actions contributed to his low sense of self that he could be able to have friends that were just like her manipulative, abusive, and just pure evil, Sam was surprised to see his mom capitulate. She apologized to Sam, and for the first time, Sam could see that his mother was shaken to her core. Not changed words couldn't change Mary Evans, but she could see the pain that she caused her son, and how this pain was now damaging his relationship with Mercedes. Although his mother tried not to like Mercedes, she couldn't stop herself from loving Mercedes because that is what Mercedes was love. After discussing with his mom the damage that they were doing to Mercedes' career, his mother agreed to talk to Melanie Jones with him.

Sam let his mom handle Melanie because Sam knew that he would probably end up cursing the lady out. Although his mom would never win any Mother of the Year awards, Mrs. Jones was actually worse than her, and Sam knew he couldn't deal with her disregard toward her daughter's career. She would be over the moon if Mercedes' career tanked, so she could be the lawyer that she was supposed to be all along. Mary had to convince Melanie Jones that the marriage was detrimental not only to their children's careers, but also to their families' names. By telling Melanie how their families would be tainted with the bad publicity, and how the two deserved the chance to salvage their careers and their names, Melanie finally relented and called Judge Washington.

Judge Washington agreed to the marriage dissolution and to bump up the hearing as soon as Sam and Mercedes could appear and sign the agreement for the marriage to be dissolved. Since the marriage had only lasted almost two months, additional paperwork concerning assets and liabilities were not needed. Sam called Mike to draw up the paperwork and couldn't get a hold of him, so he left him a message before finally visiting his dad.

The conversation with Dwight about the ultimatum he had given his mom, and how she reacted made his Dad smile a real smile. He always knew that deep in her heart Mary was a good person, she just let life and her family alter her so that she became obsessed with others instead of concentrating on those that mattered to her most. When Sam told him about Puckerman and his actions, nothing Sam could say could convince Dwight to keep him on as an employee. Truth was Noah's work was not up to par as Sam's and Dwight could have replaced him with someone better long ago, but only kept him because he was Sam's friend. The sexual harassment accusations, that Harmony in HR had to deal with every year all focused on him, and he was on his last warning as it was. Dwight had all the justifications he needed for firing his ass, and when he heard what the jerk said and did to Mercedes, Sam had to hold his dad back from going to find Puckerman and beating his ass.

His dad did not agree with Sam when he told his father about dissolving the marriage. However, Sam was adamant, and he left his dad's office feeling a little lighter but a little heavier as well. Sam had been totally transparent with his dad and told him that he was going to see a therapist for his low self-esteem. He realized that he had problem with seeing himself for who he was. Dwight hugged him, and although he disagreed with Sam on the Mercedes' situation, he knew enough to let his children learn from their mistakes, then to try to over parent and control them like their mother had done.

Hours later and Sam was getting frustrated. He tried calling Mercedes, and then Tina, but he couldn't get them on the phone. At his wits end, Sam decided to just to go home and hoped that Mercedes would be there when he got there because they had a lot to talk about.

* * *

"Tina, I told you that he didn't love me. He wants us to dissolve our marriage." Mercedes told her best friend crying her eyes out. Hours ago Mercedes had met with Tina, Santana, Kurt, and Stacie and came up with some awesome strategies to give Noah Puckerman and Quinn Fabray their just desserts. Now just two hours later, her friend had come to her in tears and Tina could barely make out what she was saying. Mercedes' crying was not a common occurrence, and Tina knew it had to be something major to cause her friend to be drowning herself in copious tears.

"Mercedes, what could have possibly happened?" Tina asked because if she was sure of one thing, she knew that Mercedes loved Sam, and Sam loved Mercedes.

"He convinced…my mom and his mom…to have our marriage…ended." Mercedes said trying to stop herself from blubbering but it was hard not to ease her pain with tears.

"Why would he do a crazy thing like that?" Tina asked still unsure if Mercedes knew what she was talking about.

"He blames him…self…for…messing up…my career. It wasn't…his fault…it was Quinn's …and that asshole….Noah Puckerman's…"

"But your career is going to be fine. Shoot it is going to be better than ever having your _Tinkled Pink_ album released during your Pink and White Gala was a stroke of genius, and Kurt redesigning the party and agreeing to get corporate sponsors to match the sales of your CDs for donations to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization during the gala is a wonderful idea. Also, your label was ecstatic because of the future publicity that will be given to them in having a dollar of all sales going to the American Cancer Society. I know we are going to sell a million copies, and when a million is given to the ACS, you and your fans will have impacted lives. The press release coming out about this is going to eradicate all the negative publicity that you have received."

"I…know…this…but Sam…doesn't…know…anything." Mercedes said still looking blue and busy using the tissues Tina had given her to clean her face and blow her nose.

"Well, I don't know if that will make as much difference to Sam but wait until he finds out what is in store for Quinn the Fake Fabray and Noah the Puke Puckerman. You know we are only to refer to them as Fake and Puke from now on. Santana already has _US Weekly_ printing a retraction along with the true story revealed of how the Fake and Puke's relationship resulted in Fake's pregnancy. Her baby was conceived when Sam was overseas at some Comic Con believe or not. And information concerning the family ring she was given and had to return was because of inheritance laws and because she cheated and that is what ended their engagement. What man wouldn't have dropped the Fake upon finding that out and her cheating with his best friend out of all people?"

Tina asked that rhetorical question before continuing, "Needless to say after that article is printed next week, the Fake will have a taste of her own medicine. You reap what you sow, and baby she will reap. And leave it to Kurt to have the connections to find out about all her other relationships since Sam, they have been with older men and apparently she had gotten 'worms' from one of them, and that is why she is not in a relationship now. Apparently the STD she got caused sterility, and the reason why she is single is because all of her old-moneyed friends and families know this, and she refuses to marry the lower class man she has been dating on and off for the past five years, even though he is a captain in the United States Air Force. And those gummy worms, fake bait, and actually chocolate coated worms that you and Santana with Kurt's help are having delivered to her job to decorate the place…that's priceless."

Mercedes couldn't help but grin when Tina mentioned the worms. "My Grandmother Jones always told me that messing around with old men gives you worms, so I couldn't help but mention that when Kurt told us of how some of the men she dated were old enough to be her father. Apparently she had slept with her teachers in school and college, and she has been full of worms for years. I am just glad Sam used a condom with her and Marley because there is no telling what STD he could have gotten from her or Marley."

"Well the Fake's punishment is minor compared to what we all planned for the Puke. First having Santana agree to being the bait surprised the hell out of me. She agreed to meet up with him and agree to bring him back to her place for a little fun. What he won't expect is after she ties him down with the Kurt's ties, and blindfolds him, is that Kurt is going to be in the bed with him and she is going take pictures of them and when she takes the blindfold off, Santana's is going to be wearing her twelve inch black strap-on that she nicknamed Mandingo. She is going to make him suck her dick which the freak will do voluntarily I am sure once she promised to do the same to his, and then she is going to pretend like she is going to take his anal virginity just to scare the shit out of him. While he is begging and pleading for release Kurt will come out and take even more pictures. They are going to threaten to release the pictures to Jacob Ben Israel if Puke doesn't recant his statements and apologize to you and Sam. Because blackmail is illegal, all pictures will be deleted and never used but Puke doesn't have to know, this right?"

"Tina, I really feel uncomfortable with that part of the revenge, but if it is the only way to get him to admit the truth, then I will turn a blind eye. After that creep tried to sexually assault me, I have no empathy or sympathy towards him, sex addict or not. I do like the part of the plan that you came up with and getting those other girls to tell Rachel's divorce attorney all, so that when she sues to divorce his ass, he is going to be left without a pot to piss in. The child support and alimony alone will be all the revenge I need in getting back at that loser." Mercedes said temporarily forgetting her grief. Tina knew how to distract her.

"Yep, and Stacie is using her theater make-up to make Stevie's face look as if Sam had beaten him up. He is going to be wearing an arm brace, too when he conveniently runs into Puke while supposedly going to visit his dad today. Stevie has been prepped to admit that he was half-baked and forget himself and rubbed on your booty, and Sam went Incredible Hulk on him and beat his ass. If Sam was willing to forget himself and beat his brother who was under the influence, he hated to think of what Sam might do to anyone else. Stevie will also receive a call from Stacie telling him that Sam has just read Jacob Ben Israel's article and is on his way to the job right now, and that he is looking like he is about to kill someone so Stevie better stay out of his sight. When Puke hears this, we all know he is going to be shaking in his boots for no reason at all."

"When this happens, it wouldn't have happened to a better guy, but no matter how much better getting revenge on those two will make me feel, I still feel like my heart is breaking Tee." Mercedes said feeling tears pool up in her eyes again.

Mike who had been out of his office in court all day came home at that moment. "What is going on here? Mercedes are you all right?" He asked looking concerned.

"I am surprised your best friend Sam hasn't called you and gave you the news." Tina said waspishly to her husband.

"I have been in court all day. I haven't had a chance to talk to anyone not in the courtroom. Let me check my messages." Mike said as he called his voicemail, and he listened to the voicemail that Sam had left. Understanding the situation, he knew to say as little as possible.

"He wants to dissolve the marriage which should be pretty easy since we don't have any joint assets and liabilities since the marriage hasn't even lasted two months." Mercedes said trying to be strong.

"I can't believe Judge Washington is going to allow this. Wow. What happened?" Mike asked and sat back and listened to Tina as she explained what all had went down that very day.

"Sam confronted your mothers. Wow. I am proud of him for doing something the two of you should have done before this marriage began, but knowing Sam, his reason for divorcing you is because like you said, his dad is going to need him in the office once Puckerman is fired, and he won't be able to go with you on all the interviews you will need to go on. You are important to Sam, and your career is a part of you, and I know that he blames himself for getting you in this mess, so he is doing his best to get you out of it." Mike said giving the girls Sam's point of view, which he knew they hadn't been thinking of.

"He promised to never hurt me again, Mike, and he has hurt me far worse than losing my career ever would have done. It's like the old Alicia Key's song, "If I Ain't Got You," everything means nothing if I don't have Sam. He should love me enough to talk to me first before making decisions that affect the both of us."

"When you go home tonight, you and Sam can have that very discussion." Mike said knowing that communication as always continued to be their problem. "Plus knowing you, I bet you didn't stick around and confront Sam. You are letting your mommy dearest issues of avoidance ruin your chance with happiness with Sam. You never should have gone to law school in the first place. You should have confronted your mother, and now you need to go confront your husband. Escaping through your music and volunteering is not successfully dealing with your issues. You need to start confronting people regardless if it is going to change their behaviors. Your mom has only the strength that you give her by you allowing her to talk to you the way she does. You are not a little girl; you are a grown ass woman. If you don't want your marriage dissolved, then go home and talk to your husband." Mike said showing a side of himself that he usually leaves for the courthouse or the bedroom if Tina was in the mood to play games.

"Damn husband of mine. You so sexy right now. I just want to jump all over you, and I don't think those are my pregnancy hormones talking." Tina said licking her lips and looking at her husband with lust in her eyes.

"Alright if you wanted me to feel uncomfortable and leave, you should have just kicked me out of the door. Okay Mike, I hear Professor Keating coming out of you, and I know it's time for me to hit the door." Mercedes said when she saw Mike return Tina's look and heard him growl at her. Mike Chang, growling who knew?

"Lord, Jesus, please me give me the strength to listen to Sam, and prove to me that if I really love him, that I am able to let him go, and if we are supposed to be together, that I will be able to trust that You will bring us back together. Give me ears to hear what he is saying, and give me the voice to speak the words that I need to say to him without speaking in anger, but to do everything in love. In Your Name Jesus I pray. Amen" Mercedes couldn't help but to pray her entire drive home looking at the missed calls and message alerts on her phone knowing that Sam had been trying to call her, and she needed to stop running and face him like the adult she was.

* * *

Sam was not drinking this time when she entered the house, but he was curled up on the sofa with the dogs. Those two were going to miss him when he left, but that was life better knowing him for about two months then having to deal with him leaving after about two years. She thought as she made her way into the sitting room.

Sam looked up and was relieved to hear the front door close and the dogs barking knowing their mommy was home. Mike had sent him a brief text saying that Cedes was OHW which he decided meant that Mercedes was on her way home. He didn't bother to call his friend knowing that he must be busy to send the quick text and not call him back about the marriage dissolution.

"Mercedes, I don't know what you overheard outside my dad's office, but please let me talk." Sam began looking at her tear swollen eyes and not being strong enough to see that for once he had lied and hurt her more than anything else possibly could.

"No, wait for a second. Sam, I was wrong for eavesdropping, wrong for leaving, and wrong for ignoring your calls. I did something I promised to stop doing and that was running away from you without talking first. Avoidance, escapism, and fear of abandonment are all the issues that I have because that is how I pretend to be a victor when in fact I am a victim. I let my mother control everything and speak to me as if I was nothing. I wouldn't even talk to my dogs, the way she talks to me, and although I will argue back with her, I never stay and stand up to her. I thought choosing my music career and living in California meant that I was no longer under her control, but as soon as I moved back to Lima, I become the childhood version of myself which let's me know that running away from a problem never solves it. I am finished running away from things, and if you want to dissolve our marriage, then I will do what you want. Just know that I wish you'd have come to me first before telling our parents and Lord knows who else." Mercedes admitted not concerned about looking weak in front of man who knew every part of her anyways.

"Mercedes, my dad told me I was wrong in not coming to you, and now I know how stupid I was. I thought that I was manning up and doing everything for you when I needed to learn that a marriage is not a person making decisions, but it is a partnership between two people. I was just so defeated, and then angry, then finally able to see that is was my low self-esteem that caused almost all my problems. This morning when I woke up I was so happy because I was finally going to be able to sacrifice for you. Dad had already agreed to allow me to quit after I closed out my accounts, so that I could pursue my true passion which is my comic business. I would be able to travel with you across the globe, and you would be able to release your album and all would be right in our world. However, when I found out what that snake and that two timing ex of mine did, it hurt me so bad that I no longer saw you. All I saw was me every part of me, a me that knew that I wasn't worthy to be in a relationship with you because I was the loser that my mom said I was."

"Sam you are not a loser, and you are more than worthy to be in a relationship with me because I love you." Mercedes couldn't help but interrupt him. How could he think those things about himself when she saw how his dad loved him, his siblings loved him, Mike and Tina liked him, and their dogs loved him, too because there was so much good in him.

"That is my problem. I have low self-esteem, and I am going to see a therapist about it, but you love me?" Sam asked finally realizing what she said after saying he wasn't a loser.

"Yes, Sam, if you couldn't tell by that one song, I song to you that I loved you, then I don't know how else to express my love for you. When we were together and happy, I felt like I was brave enough strong enough to do anything, and then when I heard you wanted to dissolve our marriage, I turned again to the person who escapes everything by running away. I don't want to be that person Sam. I want to be the person I was when I was with you all the time, so letting you go is going to be hard, but I know I have to be strong enough to let you go even though it feels as if my heart is being ripped out after being torn into shreds." Mercedes couldn't stop the tears from welling back up in her eyes.

"Don't cry baby, please baby don't cry. Part of me wants to say I am not worth it, but I realize that we both have issues. Having the mothers that we have means that issues are mandatory, but as adults we can deal with our issues. Our main issue is communication. I should have come to you, and I am sorry. I was wrong, but please know that my love for you blinded me to everything else. I love you, and if dissolving our marriage is not what you want, then talk to me, tell me what you want baby, and if I can do it, then I swear I will try, because I can't stand to see you hurting."

"You love me…Sam?" Mercedes asked hearing everything he was saying but only focusing in on his love for her.

"I am truly, madly, deeply, uncontrollably, irrevocably, and forever in love with you, Mercedes." Sam said allowing his eyes to show her the love he felt for her. "I first fell in lust with you when I saw you in Mike and Tina's kitchen, I started to develop feelings for you when you told off both our mothers at the meal, and I fell in love with you after you threatened to beat Felvis' ass in Vegas, but I didn't know it was love until I began to draw you all the time and had to feature you in a comic because you consumed all my thoughts and were now to sole muse to my creativity. I only wanted the marriage dissolved so that your career didn't have to suffer, not because I wanted to end our relationship even though it was hurting you being tied to me because of my former associates."

"I understand Sam because I feel the same way about you. I had already sacrificed my career for my friend, and if you truly know me, then you know I would have sacrificed it for you my husband. I told Mike that everything in this world means nothing without you, and I mean that Sam Evans. So what do we do now?" She asked him looking at him with an answering love in her eyes.

"I think we do need to dissolve this marriage because we entered into it with the wrong motivations, and I want to wine and dine you, romance you, and have the wedding that you deserve after we receive premarital counseling, deal with both our issues separately with individual counseling, and have additional counseling together to deal with our communication issues. I want us to be two completes wholes in this relationship, and I want you to continue with your career because your career is not just a job it's a ministry. You truly make a difference in people's life, and until we have our seven children, I think I can share you with the world."

"I don't think we need to dissolve our marriage. I think we need to have Judge Washington change our sentence so that we can spend time a part and we remove the deadline. I can't imagine not waking up in your arms, and you forget that I have some pretty high moral standards, I wouldn't be able to make love with you if we aren't married Sam. I do agree to the counseling. We need to discuss premarital things like children because no way am I giving birth to seven kids, two hopefully and three only if our first two are the same sex. After three tries, I know that I will be out of the giving birth business unless we can find a way for you to carry them and deliver them, then that's a nonnegotiable. Also, I think we need marital counseling to deal with our issues involving communication and other problems we have, and I will agree to see a therapist that my publicist recommends. She has been in therapy, and it really has made a difference in her. If you would have known her when we were in high school together, you would have that she was the female version of Satan. Any therapist that can help her should know somebody that can help me as well."

"No premarital sex. Okay, I will agree with you on the marriage dissolution thing because I may be man enough to let you go and not see you, but if we are going to be courting then I know I won't be able to resist keeping my hands off of you. After talking to Kurt this evening, he told me the one way to get that hurt look off of your eyes was to serenade you. He told me about an old song that you liked, that I would like to sing to you now. Sam sits Mercedes down and pulls out a guitar he had to borrow from Stevie because his guitar was somewhere packed away Lord knows where.

 _I Like It_

 _I've been thinkin'  
'bout you for quite a while  
You're on my mind everyday and every night  
My every thought is you, the things you do  
Seems so satisfying to me,  
I must confess it, girl_

 _Ooh... and I like it  
You send chills up my spine every time  
I take a look at you  
Ooh... and I like it  
Girl, you're blowin'  
my mind with the things you say to me_

 _I like the way you comb your hair  
And I like those stylish clothes you wear  
It's just the little things you do  
That show how much you really care_

 _Like when I'm all alone with you  
You know exactly what to do  
You put that fire inside of me  
And make it more than just a dream_

 _Ooh... and I like it  
You send chills up my spine every time  
I take a look at you  
Ooh... and I like it  
Ooh... and I like it_

 _Girl, let me run this by you just one more time  
You're on my mind every day and every night  
My every thought is on you, the things you do  
Seems so satisfying to me,  
I must confess it, girl_

 _Ooh... and I like it  
You send chills up my spine every time  
I take a look at you  
Ooh... and I like it  
Girl, you're blowin'  
my mind with the things you say to me_

 _I like the way you comb your hair  
And I like those stylish clothes you wear  
It's just the little things you do  
That show how much you really care_

 _Like when I'm all alone with you  
You know exactly what to do  
'Cause you put that fire inside of me  
And make it more than just a dream_

 _I like it, I like it  
I really, really like it  
I'm for it, adore  
So come let me enjoy it_

 _I like it, I like it  
I really, really like it  
I'm for it, adore  
So come let me enjoy it (I like it)_

 _I like it (I like), I like it (That's right)  
I really (I like), really like it (Uh, uh)  
I'm for it (I'm for it), adore (I like)  
So come let me enjoy it (Ooh... ooh... ooh...)_

 _Ooh... and I like  
Ooh, I like it, ooh...  
Ooh... and I like  
I'm just tryin' to satisfy you, girl,  
you know I really like it_

 _Say baby,_

 _I like everything little thing you do  
The way you comb your hair  
And every little thing you do  
It shows how much you care_

 _Say baby, every time I take one look one you  
I get chills up and down my spine_

 _And I like it, I like it, and I like it,  
and I like it, and I like it  
Like it, like it, like it, like it, like it,  
like it, like it, babe_

 _Ooh... and I like  
Woo... ooh...  
Ooh... and I like_

While Sam was serenading her and giving her those bedroom eyes, Mercedes knew she was going to kill Kurt Hummel to have a man sing to her in his upper and lower register really was a turn on to Mercedes and having her gorgeous specimen of husband sing this song to her was baby making music, and she wasn't ready to be led to bed so easily. She had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop her from jumping his bones before he finished the song. She did get up and kiss him after he finished singing, and the kissing of course led to the bedroom where Mercedes did more than put the fire inside of him, she took total control, and all she could hear was Sam crying out her name.

* * *

At two o'clock in the morning, Mercedes wakes up hearing her phone ring. "Did Sam put a baby up in you, so my little Baby Chang has a Baby Evans playmate?' Tina asked without saying hello.

"Are you out of your mind, Tina calling this late at night asking such a ridiculous question?"

"Well, I finished allowing Mike to have his way with me before dinner. The baby makes me so hungry, so I have to eat. When I didn't hear from you by the time it was ten, I knew that you and Sam were busy getting it in. I am only up now because Baby Chang must reside on my kidneys, cause I had to get up and use the bathroom."

"Tina no more over sharing, please, I beg you to not give me the details." Mercedes began before Tina interrupted.

"You mean you don't want to know how Mike bent me over and slapped...," Tina began.

"Oh hell to the no, Tina there are some things between you and Mike that need to stay between you and Mike at two o'clock in the morning especially. You know we are both sleep drunk and are bound to say things we will regret upon waking up."

"But it would all be true. Do I need to get you a pregnancy test or come over and stump my foot all up in Sam's ass and invite Santana to come over and we give him the Tana and Tina double smack down. Since I am pregnant I will let her take him to the carpet."

"Tina if you touch my man, I will allow your mother to host your baby shower," Mercedes threatened her best friend.

"Oh, so that means no marriage dissolution. Sam and Cedes are sitting in the tree and getting B.U.S.Y. busy. First came marriage then came love, and next year will be Sam and Cedes with a baby carriage."

"Tina you are insane. I.N.S.A.N.E. certifiably insane; I hate to burst your baby on the brain bubble, but there will be no baby anytime soon. My album will be released during the Pink and White Gala, and I will be going on tour after that baby of yours is born, and Dwight has had enough time to hire a new interior designer. Sam and I are going to go to counseling and work on ourselves and our marriage, so when you have baby two, maybe then and only then will Sam and I think about extending our family and giving one of your children a playmate missy."

"I knew you loved me. Oh, hell, Cedes, Mike is waking up; I need to get off the phone before he threatens to spank me."

"Bye girl, and don't act like that's a threat when you know you like it." Mercedes told her friend hanging up the phone and snuggling back into her husband's arm. After telling Sam all they had planned to get back at his foes after their sex marathon and eating delivery pizza in bed, Sam had got up and did a little dance and promised to take the gang out with Mike for a celebration dinner for the weekend, which she had forgotten to tell Tina. Mercedes turned to look at her husband and thought their marriage had to be one for the record books, and for once was glad that even though their mothers probably meant their relationship for bad, God allowed it all to happen for their good. She and Sam would be stronger people and a stronger couple now that they were completely on the same page for the first time in their marriage with love being the key component.

The Temporary End


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything concerning plot, characters, music, etc., but most of this chapter comes from my own warp imagination and has little relevancy in the** ** _Tickled Pink_** **universe. I still have to go back an edit the previous chapter before attempting to edit this epilogue in the Tickled Pink universe that went with Samcedesweek a strip routine in a spouse office, and I got too bogged down with issues to get smutty, but this is my once a month epilogue for this story for all those who loved** ** _Ordered to Marry_** **.**

Epilogue 1

"Mercedes, I admit I am a bit curious as to why you wanted to start seeing me again." Dr. Carmen Tibideaux had been speculating as to why Mercedes Evans had called her and scheduled an appointment that was out of the blue and could not fathom a reason. Her sessions with the superstar had been her most successful. She never had a client so dedicated to her well-being as Mercedes had been and she had even written a book about how to avoid avoidance based on their sessions together.

"Carmen, I just have so much pressure on me from my husband, my best friend, and my in-laws and even my father has joined the bandwagon of asking me when I am going to become pregnant or if I am pregnant yet. I know I told Sam that I was willing to have two to three children after this last tour, but for some reason I just can't stop taking my birth control pills."

"Well, the last time we talked about your future you mentioned that motherhood was a part of your plans." Carmen had read her notes and listened to her final session with Mercedes before meeting with her today just in case something from their previous sessions were going to be the reason why Mercedes was coming to see her for therapy.

"I know and I told everyone that too not realizing that with my career being so busy that I had the perfect excuse to say that I was ready to embrace becoming mother in the future, but I couldn't focus on that at the time because I was too busy with my career, my husband, our family and friends, and our dogs."

"So, you were telling people what they wanted to hear without really considering that you were prevaricating. However, you also told me the same thing, and I could care less whether or not you decided to have children or not."

"I admit I was practicing self-deception at the time. I wanted to please people and believe that I was ready to be a mother when that was far from true."

"Motherhood is something that you were self deceiving yourself about."

"Exactly, at the time I was feeling good. I was in love and loved, and my best friend had beat cancer and was facing pregnancy in her condition without the slightest fear. I figured if Tina was strong enough to risk her health because we all know how cancer comes back and carry her baby, then when it came time for me to be a mommy, that I would be able to do the same."

"Now everybody feels that it is time for you to be a mommy, and you realize you are not able to do the same."

"I thought I had successfully dealt with all my Mother Dearest issues, but apparently I haven't. I have dreams that I have a little girl with eyes like my own, and I see tears welling up in her eyes, and I hear my voice telling her that Marshall women don't cry. My biggest fear is that I am going to become my mother. Then I realize I have never been mothered by someone with a mother's instinct. What if I will become like my mother?"

"Now we are getting to the root of the issue. It is not motherhood that you fear, but you fear that you will become like your mother and verbal abuse your child by being a tiger mother."

"I don't think that I would push my child to be a singer like my mom pushed me to go into law, but there are several things she did in rearing me, that I am afraid that I will do once I become a mom. Tina has told me how she says things her mom used to say and does things her mom used to do all the time now, and I have read and heard others say the same thing. I just don't want that to happen to me. Sam and I both had screwed up moms, but Sam's dad is so cool. And I know that Sam would be a great father. He is a great godfather to Tina's and Mike's baby girl. When I see Sam playing with Mindy, my heart melts. We babysit her from time to time, and because I was an only child and never babysat, Sam does much of the work because he helped his mom with his siblings when they were little."

"Mercedes, every new mom has insecurities about being a good parent. Being a mother is the hardest job there is, and the people who think that rearing a child is easy need to see me so that I can examine their head. There is nothing wrong with you for having these insecurities. However, if you avoiding motherhood based on fear of becoming like your mother, then I can help you with that issue."

"Honestly, Carmen, I didn't even know how to change a diaper before Mindy or feed or burp a baby. Sam and Tina had to teach me everything. And Mindy was so small that it took several weeks before I felt comfortable enough to hold her for an extended period of time. When we took care of her so that Mike and Tina could have their date night and resume relations after the six weeks wait, I was a nervous wreck. If it wasn't for Sam, I don't know what I would have done. Before Mindy, I would have told anyone that yes I was ready to be a mom in a couple of years, but after hearing Tina saying she has become more and more like her mom, an overwhelming fear has entrenched itself in my heart that makes me irrational and fear motherhood, and I don't even know if you are going to be able to help me."

"I will be able to work with you on your fear, but you should never let fear control you. You have to honestly ask yourself if you want to have a child with Sam. Do you think that Sam deserves to be a father, and are you willing to deal with your issues so you can be the mother to his kids. I know how you treat your pets, and I bet you take even better care of Mindy, so I don't think you have a problem with nurturing."

"I never had puppies, so I can't compare my care of my pets to being a mommy. Also, Mindy is not my daughter, so I can't base my actions and words towards her as an indicator of how I would be with a child of my own. I know that Sam wants and deserves a child of his own. I just …"

Carmen waited on Mercedes knowing that in order for therapy to be successful you can't tell a client what to do, that person had to come to the realization on their own.

"I just don't want to have a child who ends up with a mother like my mom."

"Mercedes, your mother was not a good parent. However, do you see your life as a failure?"

"No, I am not a failure. I was able to become the person that I am despite having her in my life."

"So, even if you screwed up as a parent and began acting like your mother there is a good chance that your child will be just like you. Is that a bad thing giving the world another Mercedes?"

"Well I would feel conceited if I said no, it wouldn't be a bad thing, but I understand what you are trying to get me to realize. If I do become my mother, my child would probably become me and rise above and still fulfill his or her destiny and just have to visit a therapist now and again to deal with his or her issues. Intellectually I know this, but practically right now I am unable to deal with it."

"So, I guess you and Sam are no longer having sex."

"The only time we are not burning up the sheets is when I am on my period, we are too tired, or we are a part from each other."

"You know that there is no 100% method of birth control, so what happens if you get pregnant despite being on the pill. Are you going to abort the child?"

"Hell no! I would never do anything to hurt my baby!"

"That was one test that you have passed already." Carmen said nodding at Mercedes seeing the anger in her eyes and the look of incredulity that followed.

"If you are this protective over an imaginary fetus, I don't think you have to worry about having love for a real child that is part you and part the love of your life Sam Evans."

"I never thought of it that way Carmen. But you are right. I could be pregnant now and not know it, and I am going to continue with the sessions with you if you don't mind. This is the most peace I have felt in a long time, since being bombarded with my loved ones baby fever."

"Mercedes, I know that you are strong enough to not allow anyone to pressure you into an unwanted pregnancy. But you are going to have to discuss this with Sam, and I want him to come with you to your next session. Now you know I always give homework. Your first assignment is to have an honest conversation with your husband about your fears and doubts, and the second is to list all the good things about you that your loved ones say about you. Even though you had a crappy mother, you are not a crappy wife, friend, daughter in law, sister in law, etc. So that in the worse case scenario your fears are true see if you could live with yourself if your fears are realized and you have a child who ends up being just like you."

"It's going to hurt like hell, but I know I have to talk to Sam, and I will do the homework assignment, but I don't want to repeat the cycle of abuse that I experienced that is the entire basis of my fear. I know I was able to survive but I have these scars, and I just have to trust that I will be able to benefit from these therapy sessions with you.

"That is all I can ask of you is to trust that we will both do our best to help you. Have a great afternoon, and you can call me when you have spoken to Sam so my receptionist can schedule a time that is convenient to both you and that husband of yours."

The two exchanged goodbyes, and Mercedes headed home with trepidation. When Sam finished working for his dad, the two of them had worked together design a dream home that would house both her in home studio and his art studio/office for his comic business. Dwight had overseen the building of their dream home while Mercedes was on tour, and driving to their estate that had ever amenity that the two could think of usually filled Mercedes with joy, but today after using her fingertips, retina scan, and five digit code into the security feature of her fence that she had to go through when entering the property, Mercedes was filled with trepidation.

Sam had wanted to keep the Puke Puckerman and even their parents and especially his little brother Stevie from having easy access to their home, and he bought the most secure gate there was so it was a three tiered security system that even if someone lifted a fingerprint it would be hard to bypass their gate and get entrance before even attempting to get inside their house. Sam had wanted a big house for the seven kids that he constantly teased her about having, and when she would begin singing and rapping "It Takes Two", referencing the two kids that she promised him and the two of them, it would distract him especially when she began her dancing, and they would end up in the bedroom more often than not.

Mercedes parked her car in their seven car garage and entered the house through the garage noticing that Sam's car was parked in its place, and she was not ready to have this conversation with him, but she knew she must. She let herself in and headed towards the bar to fix herself a little drink for liquid courage. She was not known to turn up during the week, but right now a shot of some brown liquor was what she needed for courage.

After having her drink, Mercedes checked to see if her phone was still on vibrate. The running joke of her and Sam's marital life had been interruptions mostly caused by their cell phones. One of the things that they had decided to do while in couple's therapy was to turn their phones off whenever they were having conversations and had given their loved ones a house phone number to only use in emergencies if they couldn't reach them by their cell phones.

Mercedes climbed the stairs to Sam's office/man cave. In the three storied home the basement contained her studio and it was the dogs domain. Because Mindy was allergic to dogs, the dogs were not allowed to roam the house but had their own space downstairs which was convenient to take them out on walks. Their first story was for company with the kitchen, great room, bathrooms, and four of the bedrooms located on that floor. Their second floor was for Mercedes and Sam and had a kitchenette, den, their master bedroom, and two bedrooms for their two future kids. The very top floor was Sam's domain where he worked in a safe distance from not being distracted by her presence. Plus he had his game room, restroom, gym equipment, and micro fridge.

Mercedes rarely climbed the steps to see Sam, so he was always sure to never to worry about having to be interrupted by her when he wanted to work or have his "man time."

She found Sam with headphones on rapping along with Beastie Boys' "Fight for Your Right" while he drew a fight scene between his heroine and her enemy. She hated to interrupt him while he was in the zone, but she new not to procrastinate. She had to talk to him, and it had to be now. She waited until he finished drawing or the song finished playing she wasn't sure which happened first before grabbing his attention by removing his headphones and tracing his ear with her tongue before he swung around in the chair and pulled her into his lap and kissed her as if they hadn't seen each other in days instead of the four hours that had passed since they saw each other last.

"Sam…" Mercedes tried to talk but her husband was only focused on making love to her thinking that she had come to his office for love play which she made the mistake of licking his ear which made him assume that was why she had come up to his domain.

Sam could hear Mercedes' voice, but he couldn't stop himself from kissing his wife. She was a dream come true, and if she wanted some Afternoon Delight then he couldn't stop himself from giving in to her desires. He couldn't to kiss her lips until his mouth was satisfied with tasting her honeyed depths and sought the saltier taste of her skin her neck was looking love bite free and he knew just what he needed to do to remedy this.

As soon as Sam stop kissing her mouth and began to suck on her neck, Mercedes knew she was going to have to stop him because she was not wasting her concealer on covering up his love bites above the shoulders. "Sam, baby this feels good, but we have to stop and talk it is important." Mercedes was finally able to say grabbing Sam's face with her hands forcing him to look into her eyes.

"What's going on darling?" Sam said as he moved his hands down to adjust himself. Sammy Jr. wasn't about to get any so he needed to calm himself down so he could focus on his wife.

"I just left my therapy session with Dr. Tibideaux, and she made me realize that I needed to tell you why I have been waking up in a cold sweat these past nights and have been having nightmares."

"You know you can tell me anything baby, I won't judge you, I swear." Sam said looking at his wife not realizing that one she had an appointment with her therapist and two that she had been afraid to talk to him about her fears.

"You know how you and everybody else have been asking me if and when I am going to be pregnant, and I just smile and either distract you with loving to make the babies or tell them when God wills it…"

"Have you been to the doctor and found out that you can't have babies? Mercedes it is okay if you can't have our baby we can adopt or look into surrogacy." Sam said cradling his wife in his arms. Sure he wanted kids, but if he never had kids with Mercedes he would still be complete. She was all he needed, the kids they would have would have only been a bonus.

"Sam, I don't deserve you as a husband. That is so sweet of you, but as far as I know there is not a medical reason to prevent me from having our children. I just fear that I will become my mother if we had children, and I have been unable to stop taking birth control because I have nightmares that we have a little girl with eyes like my own, and I am saying to her the things my mother said to me. Sam we know that children who have abusive parents grow up to be abusers. And I am afraid that if I had a child of our own that I would be emotionally abusive and too demanding of a parent like my mom and cause our children to have the issues I have now."

Sam couldn't believe the words that were coming out of his wife's mouth. She had promised she was going to stop taking the pills as soon as she sung her last song on her world wide tour. He never questioned her to see if she had or not; she was so trustworthy that he couldn't understand why she would deceive him about something so important. They had discussed having kids in length in therapy and out of therapy and both had said they wanted to have them. It was hard for him to wrap his head around her confession until she got to the real issue, she was afraid of becoming her mother, and Sam no matter how disappointed he was in her could no longer feel upset. He knew the scars they both had. Her scars ran deeper because her mother was a bitch queen from the pits of hell, but they had both been able to tolerate her because she knew they wouldn't tolerate her hateful comments and behavior anymore.

Sam realized just how hesitant his wife was when they first took care of Mindy and how she spoiled the little girl rotten by never being the disciplinarian. Sam had to be the one that corrected behavior. He figured that with their kids that he would have to be the one in charge of discipline because his wife was just too tenderhearted to do it. Now realizing she was having nightmares about becoming her mother, he could understand why she had done what she had done, but it still hurt that she didn't come to him, and he told her so.

"I am sorry Sam. I was deceiving you all and I was deceiving myself. I didn't realize until Mindy that I had this problem, and it was when Tina said she was becoming more and more like her mother and I had heard other mothers say the same thing that I began to worry. Plus you know how some parents try to do the opposite of what their parents did and this could be a problem too. I realize that I can't even discipline a two year old who is in her Terrible Twos because I am afraid of being too much like my mom and demanding perfection. I know that you will be the perfect father, and still that isn't enough to alleviate my fears of being the worst mother in the world."

"Mercedes, I can understand why you have done what you have done, but it still hurts that after we have paid thousands in counseling for communication, that you still didn't come to me with this. I know you were afraid of letting me down because you know I want kids, but your mental health is more important to me than to have children of our own. I am sure all parents have the same fears you have, and there is no such thing as a perfect person, so you need to stop worrying about being a perfect mother because there is no such thing."

"I was wrong Sam, and I apologized for my actions. I know that intellectually you are right, but I have irrational fears Sam that cause me nightmares and make my heart tense up in pain at the thought of hurting one of our children, and I just need you, therapy, and time to decide what is going to be best for us Sam."

"I can't say I understand where you are coming from because I can't. You are the most nurturing, caring, and authentically real person I know. You have helped raised millions for cancer research, you inspire people at your concerts, and you can't see just how awesome you are. I felt unworthy to be your man because you are all that and beautiful, intelligent, and sexy as hell as well. Even if you lose your mind and become like your mother, if we had a child who was only a quarter of you, then I would be a blessed man."

"Sam, I hear your words, and I know that I am blessed to have you as my husband and maybe you see me through eyes of love then who I am truly am, so I will let you believe all that you say, but you know that when you married me and decided to stay married to me that I have issues, and my issues are irrational, but a product of my upbringing. You always want more for your child, Sam. And looking at my daughter's face in my dreams after I am so harsh with her, it breaks me Sam it breaks me every damn time, and I don't think I could live with myself if I actually do or say any of things my mom did or said to me or if I am the totally opposite and have a spoilt brat that nobody wants to be around because I failed to effectively discipline and train my child."

"The way you talk makes me optimistic."

"Have you lost your mind husband of mine?"

"Yes, I am optimistic because you care already for unborn children that we may or may not be blessed with. You are not your mother or can magically turn into your mother from giving birth. Yes, there is postpartum depression and all kinds of things that can happen after delivery. I can't promise that you will be a good mother or that I would even be a good daddy. If our child looks like you and looks up to me with your eyes I would probably be the daddy who does all the spoiling and deny her nothing. We don't know how we are going to be as parents until we become parents. I am willing to try anything with you because I love and respect you. You are a part of me. When we became married we became one Samcedes. I know that nothing I say will alleviate your fears, but I hope that you can trust and know that you can come to me with anything and I will try not to judge you but understand you and love you as I always have and always will do."

"I am going to try Sam. You are going to have to be patient with me. I hear you words, and I know that I love you with the same ferocity and if the table was turned I would be saying the same words to you. You are my heart. Now, before I become a blubbering fool can you look at your calendar. We need to call and schedule an appointment with Dr. Tibideaux so she can help me with my irrational fears. I am afraid, Sam, and I am going to need your support and your love to overcome my fears."

"It is okay to be afraid as long as you are trying to alleviate the fear. I will do my part, and if we decide not to have children, I just want you to know that I am okay with this. You are the most important person in my life, and I won't risk your mental health for babies. We can always babysit, foster, or mentor kids, but our marriage is important to me, and I want us to both be okay."

"You always talk about being unworthy of being my husband, when in truth I don't deserve you either. You are the best Sam Evans, and I know that with you I can face my fears because of your love, acceptance, and understanding, I am more positive now then I have been all year. I love you Sam Evans." Mercedes said before gently lowering his head to kiss him softly and tenderly before taking his phone and finding a song to give him evidence of how much she loved him.

She chose Ciara's "Ride", and did a slow striptease before giving him a lap dance that concluded with them going to bed after Mercedes rode him slow and hard to beat of the song that was on repeat, and her man was anything but mad when they finally showered before eating dinner and going to bed. She knew sex didn't solve anything, but Mercedes had to show her man how much she appreciated him and loved him because she was grateful that he was her husband and would stick with her through the good and bad and as in the words of Al Green "happy or sad". They would stay together and support each other and that is what she needed most.


	12. Epilogue 2

**Emestee1 this is for you and all the wonderful Samcedes fanfiction readers who inspire us semi-retired writers to continually to crank one out. Original Story was Tinkled Pink that I drew inspiration from and because I have been watching talk shows instead of TV shows and haven't been watching movies this is the kind of chapter that flows effortlessly from my fingers. This is filled with errors, please forgive them all and a shout out to monni2215...when you email us as writers it will sometimes light a spark and the next story that I am writing is because of you...I don't own anything especially not The Real but I do own the song and the "The Odd Squad" comics not TV show of same name.**

Epilogue 2

"Welcome to "The Real"! We are so excited to have music recording artist Mercedes Jones for our co-host this week." Jeannie Mai said.

"Let's roll right into some Girl Chat. If I asked you all right now who do you think Mercedes is closest to at this table, who would you guess?" Jeannie asks looking smug.

"I think most of us would think Tamera." Adrienne says looking amused.

"Why you gotta say Tamera, Munchkin?" Loni says looking messy.

"Cause we all know who her husband is, and he is whiter than Adam, plus they are both known for being Christians." Adrienne replies looking smug.

"You are wrong for that Adrienne," Tamera says before continuing, "This is my first time meeting Mercedes, but my entire family are big fans of her. Before she married, my sister and I seriously was going to try to set her up with Tahj because she is so petite."

"Thanks Tamera, and Sam better be glad that you didn't try to hook me up with your brother because he is all sorts of fine. But Adrienne is right. I am a Christian and I have an interracial marriage like Tamera, but the person who I am closest to is Ms. Jeannie Mai. I have known Jeannie for years. My best friend Tina Cohen-Chang is a designer, and the two of them have a strong relationship both personal and private because of their love of innovative fashions and helping out their Asian sisters. Tina introduced me to Jeannie, and Jeannie was my stylist for several years before she began working on "The Real". Mercedes explained knowing that Sam was going to be brought up and ready to roll with the punches.

"Yes, Sam and Mercedes and Tina and her husband Mike will go on triple dates with Freddie and myself when we are all in Los Angeles at the same time. I love this woman right here, and she was a joy to work for. She is truly nice and all that positive press she has is because she lives what she preaches. Also, Freddy and Sam are really good friends who really get along with each other because they both wanted to be fathers at a time that Mercedes and I were just not ready for motherhood."

"In case you all don't know who this Sam that Jeannie and Mercedes keep referring to is let's show a picture of Mercedes' sexy husband ." Loni says still being messy, and she claps along with the audience when a picture of Sam is shown.

"Yes, that's the love of my life, Sam Evans, he is a former award winning interior designer, but he now works solely in comics. His comics have been optioned for television shows and a new movie that we will begin production on in a couple of weeks." Mercedes explained.

"One thing that I find interesting about you is that you and your husband have combined careers, so that you rarely spend anytime apart." Tamera says looking impressed.

"Yes, in the beginning of our marriage we rarely spent any time apart, so when I went on tour, he went on tour with me and worked on his comics having left his father's company. It made our lives' less stressful for him to be with me, and while he was with me, I provided him inspiration for more than one of his comics. The one that is now an animated televison series that is about to become a live action movie is called "The Odd Squad."

"My children love the "The Odd Squad." Ariah loves the music that is incorporated in each epsidode and Aiden loves the superhero aspect of the show."

"Can you tell us a little about the upcoming movie for those of the audience who are unfamiliar with the comic or televison cartoon?"

"Well, the "The Odd Squad" is about two lawyers based loosely on myself and my friend who Jeannie mentioned earlier, Mike Chang. The lawyers are meeting with a client who is based on Sam's little brother Stevie Evans and the law office building collaspes. When their bodies are recovered, they are all given illegal experimental operations that turn them into superheroes. The character based on me is named Joanie Mercer, Mike's character is named Chad Ming, and Sam's brother's character is named Evan Stevens. The three fight criminals and try to save their city from others who have had the same operation that were in the building but are using their newfound abilities for evil."

"What makes this cartoon so great is that you have a strong, intelligent, and full-figured black female as the lead along with a compassionate, brilliant, and badass Asian male both partnered with a silly, flirty, but goodhearted white male. The full-figured black lady is usually given the part of the funny side-kick instead it's the gorgeous white male who fills this part. I can't wait to see the casting for the movie."

"That is why we were surprised that Sam was given offers for the television show and now the movie because the main two leads are people of color who are brilliant and have no bad horror backstory. Sam and I provide the majority of the voices for the cartoon characters with some help from our friends and family with supporting characters. I hope I don't get in any trouble, but I can tell you that Dennis Oh and Raven Goodwin from "Being Mary Jane" have been casted for the movie along with Austin Butler. I don't think my husband will be too upset with me giving away that detail."

"Speaking of your husband where is he right now?" Adrienne asks looking for him in the studio.

"He will be here tomorrow. But he is deliving stuff for his booths at Comic Con in San Diego. I will be there on Thursday and Friday. So, he will come by on Wednesday on my last day co-hosting with you ladies to travel with me to San Diego. I will be on "The Odd Couple" panel on Thursday, and on Friday I will get to enjoy being a comic geek alongside my hubby."

"Ok, now let's get into some girl chat, and give Mercedes time to breathe we have been interviewing her instead of chatting." Jeannie says giving her friend's arm a squeeze.

"Yes, I will start things off. How do you all feel about the Trump's administration taking away internet privacy laws that the Obama administration put in place?" Loni asks.

"I think that Trump is proving that he is here for Trump and businesses and not here for the American people." Tamera says looking disapproving. "Everything that I post online or search online will now be sold to the highest bidder. It is all about money and not our safety or our right to keep our online activitiy regarding our finances, health, and anything else we make share in emails, online bills, online shopping etc., can be bought and broadcasted without our permission. I am very upset about this."

All of the ladies on "The View continue to talk about this topic, and then after discussing other popular news items the ladies end their chat with the Man Crush Monday picks.

"Well even though I am married to a man who likes all things chocolate: ice cream, milk, me and loves rap music and will out rap Jeannie on any back in the day song...I know you all thought that my man was a comic nerd with a black girl fetish which couldn't be further from the truth. He is a man who loves women and appreciates all shapes, sizes, and colors. I am the opposite. I prefer black men but so just happened to fall in love with a white man. I say that to explain why I have chosen my Male Crush Mike Colter who plays Luke Cage. Mike is just not gorgeous on the outside but he is a highly educated with a Masters of Fine Arts, and he is a very generous man who if our paths had crossed before I became Mrs. Evans would have given my hubby some stiff competition. "I can see us now talking a walk on beach and getting caught in the rain and Mike sweeping me off my feet to keep my Jimmy Choos from getting damaged by the water." The audience laughs at the Photoshopped picture of Mike carrying Mercedes in a rainstorm.

After laughing at Loni's, whose man crush was today's guest Chance the rapper, picture of her carrying him on the beach during the rain, and then Adrienne's pick of Jackie Chan which cracked the table and the audience up with even more unrestrained laughter, the show paused for a commercial break.

When the show resumed, Chance the rapper was introduced as the guest. After talking with Chance about the Bulls matching his donation for public schools in Chicago and everything else that was going on in his life including his decision to take care of his daughter, the ladies were surprised when he mentioned Mercedes' latest cd. "Your husband spitting those lines on some of your tracks on your last album was pretty dope."

"Thanks. I was working at home in the studio, and he came inside to tell me dinner was ready. When he heard the song I was working on, he just broke off in a rap and it ended up being the first of several collaborations that we made on my album "Not for the Heartbroken".

"Yeah, several people were shocked that he was white when they saw that video of you two."

"Well, he is no Eminem or his favorite rapper of all time LL Cool J, but he is decent. Definitely not in your league. You are a very gifted performer." Mercedes says trying to once again steer the conversation from herself. After playing a game with the hosts of the show with Chance, the show was soon finished, and Mercedes prepared to tape the next episode. Sam would be back in LA the next day, and Mercedes was so glad to have him with her when she went to tape her final show the next day with the ladies.

"Okay, I don't know who was more excited today me or Mercedes, but we have her husband here, come on out Sam Evans." Sam came on the stage giving each cohost a side hug before coming to sit by his wife giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Now Sam, you were telling us backstage that this is Mercedes' last album for awhile, and she won't be touring this year. Is this because of you two having to be on location to film "The Odd Squad"? Loni asked.

"No, but after years of trying to convince this woman to bear me some kids, she is finally pregnant, and we both have decided that being on the road and parenting is not something that we can do. I convinced Mercedes last year to do emergency foster care to show her that she is more than ready to be a mom, and our first time as foster parents, they give us a nine year old girl and a four month old baby boy."

"Wow, Mercedes how did you cope from haviing no kids to becoming a parent of two overnight?" Tamera asked.

"I was shell-shocked at first. I told Sam the baby was all his, and that I would deal with the little girl which wasn't how things ended up, because the girls' mother had lost custody because she was pimping out her daughter to pay for drugs, and she was taken to court and lost custody of her kids. The little girl didn't trust me because she thought I was like her mom, and she craved Sam's attention because she was used to men giving her money for sexual acts. It took months but with counseling, patience, and love we were able to help the little girl before her grandparents were able to be contacted, proven to be fit for custody, and the mother signed her children over to them. It was a five month process that taught me that I could never be such a failure of a mom that our temporary family had have. So, I gave Sam a set time of getting me pregnant. He had a year, and if I didn't conceive, we were going to adopt." Mercedes paused looking at her husband before continuing.

"He got me pregnant on the first try, so I knew then that it was God's will for me to be a mommy, or it wouldn't have been so easy for me to conceive so late in life."

"How far along are you?" Tamera asked amazed that Mercedes had been there for two days, and they couldn't tell she was pregnant.

"I am entering my fifth month and just got a little bump. My mom says I am carrying the baby in my hips like all Marshall women. Marshall is my mother's maiden name."

"I didn't know you were pregnant, but congratulations to you both. Being the mom of two I can tell you that being a mom and a wife changed me, and I can't imagine how much it's going to change you both." Tamera said tearing up.

"Well, one thing that has already changed for me is the knowledge that I can't be superwoman and continuing doing all I do. I love singing, but I also love giving back more. I will continue to write songs and record and work in animation alongside my hubby, but no more tours for me until this little baby is old enough to go on his or her summer vacation."

"You two do alot of charity work and have four major fundraisers a year." Jeannie said knowing how close supporting causes were to both of their hearts.

"Yes we do a fundraiser for Jeannie's human trafficking foundation, a cancer fundraiser, a mental and physical child abuse fundraiser, and a fundraiser for sexually abused child." Sam explained while holding Mercedes' tiny hand in his own. He continued to sit at the table throughout Girl Chat and even gave his opinion when asked.

The two were ask to perform the song that Chance the rapper was raving about earlier that week on the show. Mercedes stayed at the table until it was time to perform, but Sam went backstage and continued to communicate with Stevie his assistant who was still at Comic Con and then he made sure all the arrangements for his and Mercedes' trip to San Diego were taken care of.

(Song: _You Are My Cultivator_ from Mercy's record "Not for the Brokenhearted")

You stir and pulverize me, Sam/ Showing me who I am/I see all the worst and best in me when we argue when we fight/ and we make up by making love all through the night/ Chorus: You are my cultivator. Taking me to a new level. Helping me to achieve all my hopes and dreams by challenging me to the best me that I can be. Sam's rap: I am just so grateful to God that He gave me Mercy's heart. And because she's legit and keep making hit after hit, I give her da room to grow and be herself because I won't settle for anything less for her. Through our highs and our lows, my love for her only grows. She is my best friend but more than than she is a part of me, and I only want the best for myself and believe me fellows she it. You know she's the ..it. I am willing to pay any price. She is who she is beautiful brown skin, brown eyes; she's mine, and I love her with all of my being and she will always be the reason that I keep my hustle alive and I do what it takes to keep her in my life. (Mercedes singing in my life with runs) Chorus. And end hook: I am thankful that I have a man who is the kind that understands that I have a purpose I have a life and that is not just being his wife. I am a daughter, a friend, a sister, an artist, a philanthropist, and a brand. And he keeps on cultivating me by allowing my dreams to grow and uprooting those people and those things that can cause my dream to end. you for cultivating baby.

* * *

By the time the couple had finished Comic Con and returned to Lima, the episodes of the "The Real" had aired, and Mercedes was receiving all kinds of encouraging letters, emails, and gifts from her fans. What she thought was the funniest thing was that many of her fans in the Mercedes Militia had been enudating the "The Real" with suggestions that Mercedes become a permanent host. She enjoyed being on the show, but she didn't want to do it every day of her life. Being pregnant with their little bundle of joy was more than enough to keep her occupied.

Sam was grateful that Mercedes was able to attend and enjoy Comic Con. He never thought that his talent for impressions would be something that he and his wife had in common. But their work on "The Odd Squad" had only brought them closer together. Everything was going good in the Evans household, and he was grateful that the news of their first grandchild had melted his mother and mother-in-law's hearts. Mercedes and he had been adamant that their mothers change their ways if they wanted to be apart of their future grandbaby's life. Their fathers also stood up to their wives and finally put them in their place with threats of leaving them if they gave Mercedes and Sam any stress during the pregnancy and afterwards. After attending fundraisers for mental abuse, the two women saw how they had hurt their children, and they had been attending therapy to get to the root of their issues, and the Evans-Jones' households were more harmonious than ever.

The only person who gave Sam hell was Stacie for leaving her out of the "The Odd Squad." She hadn't been appeased until she found out she was going to be auntie, instantly, changing her tune and being a supportive sister that she had been all along. Yep, Sam Evans knew he was one blessed man as he looked as he is wife snuggling into him for his body heat. She was his heart and no matter what the future held, he knew that with her on his side, he was capable of achieving all his dreams and was committed to making all her dreams come true as well.


End file.
